8,230 Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 19.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,230 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter worth approximately $1,396,470,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $141,667,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $100,157,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $97,625,000. Finally, Port Capital LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $66,974,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Graco from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $80.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.40.

Graco Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $0.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,684,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,114,021. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $75.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.23. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.96 and a 52 week high of $95.69. The company has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.12.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $586.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.17 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 20.13%. Graco’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.20 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 19th were given a $0.2950 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 19th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 37.94%.

Graco Profile

Graco Inc. designs, manufactures and markets equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense and spray fluid and coating materials. Its products include pumps, meters, fluid-handling systems and spray equipment used with paints, coatings, sealants, lubricants and other materials. The company serves customers in industrial and process markets, as well as contractors working in areas such as painting, building maintenance and surface preparation. Graco sells its products worldwide through a network that includes distributors and direct sales.