367 Shares in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Acquired by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 367 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,205 shares of company stock worth $2,255,320 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. William Blair raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE GWW opened at $1,063.31 on Monday. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $1,044.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,050.76. The company has a market capitalization of $51.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.21. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $888.75 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. The company's revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GWW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.