Graco (NYSE:GGG) Price Target Cut to $87.00

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $90.00 to $87.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 5.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.25.

Graco Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $82.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.81. Graco has a one year low of $69.78 and a one year high of $94.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.96.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Graco will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $122,760.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Graco news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528 over the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc grew its holdings in Graco by 13.0% during the first quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 26,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 5.2% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 360,264 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,790 shares in the last quarter. Davies Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after buying an additional 3,971 shares during the period. Finally, Albert D Mason Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 25,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Company 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.