William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 24,434 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management cut its Graco stake by 31% in Q4, selling 24,434 shares and leaving it with 54,506 shares valued at about $4.47 million.
• Graco’s latest earnings missed expectations, with Q1 EPS of $0.66 versus the $0.75 estimate and revenue of $540.14 million below forecasts, even as revenue rose 2.2% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” with an average price target of $94.25, while one recent insider purchase came from Director Andrea Helen Simon, who bought 1,240 shares at $80.53 each.

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,506 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 24,434 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $4,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Graco by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,571,060 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $643,237,000 after acquiring an additional 99,097 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 3.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,458,857 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $208,908,000 after buying an additional 75,285 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.6% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,076,887 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $176,016,000 after buying an additional 53,126 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 0.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,865,673 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $158,508,000 after buying an additional 14,764 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,572,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $133,608,000 after buying an additional 42,381 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graco from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Monday, April 27th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, Director Andrea Helen Simon bought 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $80.53 per share, with a total value of $99,857.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $99,857.20. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company's stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $76.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.87. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.24 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $540.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.35 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.96% and a return on equity of 18.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

About Graco

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco's solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company's product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.

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