Sepio Capital LP Has $594,000 Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Sepio Capital LP decreased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,123 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Graco were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 4.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,245,193,000 after purchasing an additional 726,245 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,118,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $270,579,000 after buying an additional 498,724 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,941,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Graco by 4.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,575,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $114,845,000 after buying an additional 69,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,011,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,734,000 after buying an additional 22,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total transaction of $232,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,481,535.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total transaction of $232,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,481,535.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Claudio Merengo sold 12,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $1,138,933.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,847 shares in the company, valued at $1,696,606.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,088 shares of company stock valued at $2,649,885. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.25.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $81.48. 707,769 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 704,262. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.57 and its 200 day moving average is $86.19. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The firm had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.