Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 52.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 96,300 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co owned 0.05% of Graco worth $6,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 4.6% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management raised its stake in Graco by 38.2% during the second quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 71,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,675,000 after buying an additional 19,785 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,797,000 after buying an additional 4,912 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 139,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,044,000 after buying an additional 1,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Graco by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 71,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GGG. StockNews.com cut Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.80.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $81.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $81.25 and a 200-day moving average of $84.34. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. Graco’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.17%.

Graco 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.