Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 121,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,555 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $10,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $152,941,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 4.4% in 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. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 874.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 440,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,094,000 after purchasing an additional 395,150 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Graco by 429.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 226,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,683,000 after buying an additional 184,018 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,376,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.25.

Graco Trading Down 0.2 %

GGG stock opened at $83.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $88.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.13.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The company had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Graco news, Director Jody H. Feragen sold 5,036 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $464,772.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,144,097.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,088 shares of company stock worth $4,000,485 in the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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 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.