Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,166 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Graco were worth $948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth approximately $299,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,837,000 after buying an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth $1,850,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Graco Stock Down 0.4 %

GGG opened at $90.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.53 and its 200-day moving average is $83.00. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock valued at $2,026,230 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.