Simplicity Wealth LLC Sells 12,288 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Simplicity Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 55.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,288 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the second quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $86.30 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.19. The firm has a market cap of $14.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

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.