Sheets Smith Wealth Management Has $1.19 Million Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $87.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.28 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.28.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

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.