Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock Holdings Decreased by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,293 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 76.2% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 284,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,543,000 after purchasing an additional 122,975 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 29.5% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 118,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,382,000 after buying an additional 26,987 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Graco by 428.9% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,325,000 after buying an additional 95,378 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 774.4% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 53,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,256,000 after acquiring an additional 47,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Graco by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 857,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,965,000 after acquiring an additional 14,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE GGG opened at $84.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.94.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. Graco’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.