Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 147,720 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.11% of Graco worth $16,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 9.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 88,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,238,000 after acquiring an additional 7,611 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Graco by 80.6% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 8,625 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC raised its position in Graco by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Graco by 671.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 44,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,156,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Graco Trading Down 0.2 %

GGG stock opened at $82.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.80 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.65.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.29%.

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.