Short Interest in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Expands By 17.5%

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,150,000 shares, a growth of 17.5% from the April 30th total of 2,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 921,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Graco Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:GGG traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $83.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 475,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,652. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.83 and a 200-day moving average of $84.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Graco has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Graco's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Graco by 26,738.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $155,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,053 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 valued at $162,676,000 after acquiring an additional 518,462 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,147,341 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,709,000 after purchasing an additional 495,293 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Graco by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,497,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $126,196,000 after buying an additional 486,277 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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