14,600 Shares in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Bought by Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $14,422,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,330,688 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,618,812,000 after purchasing an additional 40,376 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,194,747 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,256,400,000 after buying an additional 27,716 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $684,042,000 after acquiring an additional 691,783 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $718,769,000 after acquiring an additional 84,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 584,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $616,465,000 after acquiring an additional 37,894 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total value of $301,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,320. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

W.W. Grainger stock traded down $17.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,024.37. 221,885 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,514. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,054.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,044.57. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $888.75 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market cap of $49.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.21.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 51.28%. The company's revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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 note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,123.13.

About W.W. Grainger

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.