3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Invests $823,000 in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 833 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GWW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price 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. Wolfe Research downgraded W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW stock traded up $13.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,028.72. 375,378 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 249,050. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $49.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,056.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,041.74. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $888.75 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.28% and a net margin of 11.08%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $602,773.08. This trade represents a 56.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.