Sant R. William Van Sells 30,870 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Director Sant R. William Van sold 30,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.08, for a total transaction of $2,317,719.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Graco Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $75.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.20. The company has a market cap of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.17 and a 12 month high of $87.94.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 23.10%. The firm had revenue of $559.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Monday, June 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Graco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Silicon Valley Capital Partners purchased a new stake in Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in Graco by 569.7% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.94% of the company’s stock.

About Graco

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The company's Industrial segment offers proportioning systems to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; equipment that pumps, meters, mixes and dispenses sealant, adhesive, and composite materials; and gel-coat equipment, chop and wet-out systems, resin transfer molding systems and applicators, and precision dispensing solutions.