Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 1,589 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,065 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,589 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.05% of W.W. Grainger worth $27,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. FORA Capital LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 6,252 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,590,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 770 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 125.2% during the 4th quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 1,727 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,730,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $366,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research downgraded W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, William Blair upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,120.00.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3%

W.W. Grainger stock traded up $3.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $1,069.39. The company had a trading volume of 203,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $995.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,065.54. The firm has a market cap of $51.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $874.98 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $2.26 dividend. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction of $1,160,647.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.