WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Sells 4,471 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Key Points

• WealthPlan Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Graco Inc. by 3.7%, selling 4,471 shares and retaining ownership of 116,837 shares valued at approximately $9.76 million.
• Institutional investors now hold about 93.88% of Graco's stock, with Northern Trust Corp and Jacobs Levy Equity Management significantly increasing their positions during the fourth quarter.
• Graco reported $0.75 EPS last quarter, missing expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 with a yield of 1.3% for shareholders.

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,471 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Graco worth $9,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Graco by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $162,676,000 after purchasing an additional 518,462 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,147,341 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $96,709,000 after purchasing an additional 495,293 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Graco by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,497,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $126,196,000 after acquiring an additional 486,277 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 9,453.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 400,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,419,000 after purchasing an additional 395,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,553,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.50.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $83.22 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.14. The stock has a market cap of $13.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.04. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%. The firm had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $590.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Graco's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco's payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

About Graco

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.

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