Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC decreased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 51.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,862 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,537 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter worth $7,120,000. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 73.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,546 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,403 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $84.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 77,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 818,179. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.06 and a 12 month high of $92.86. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $81.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.59. The company has a market cap of $14.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. Graco's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.19% of the company's stock.

Graco Company Profile

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.