Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Invests $24.48 Million in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension opened a new position in W.W. Grainger, buying 24,261 shares valued at about $24.48 million. The stake represented roughly 0.05% of Grainger and 0.6% of the fund’s holdings.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally constructive: several firms recently raised price targets, while the consensus rating is still Hold with an average target of $1,199.13.
• Grainger reported strong quarterly results, with earnings and revenue both beating expectations and management raising full-year guidance. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $2.49 per share.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 24,261 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $24,481,000. W.W. Grainger accounts for about 0.6% of Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned approximately 0.05% of W.W. Grainger at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 483 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 676 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 6.0% in the third quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.3% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,772,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1,199.13.

W.W. Grainger News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting W.W. Grainger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Grainger’s recent quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue, and management raised full-year guidance, supporting the stock. 3 Industrial Stocks That Just Crushed Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised earnings estimates across several future periods, including FY2027, signaling stronger profit expectations for W.W. Grainger. W.W. Grainger stock page
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays also published a positive outlook for GWW, adding to the constructive analyst sentiment around the stock. Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for W.W. Grainger NYSE: GWW Stock Price
• Negative Sentiment: Three insiders, including vice presidents and a senior vice president, sold shares on May 12, which can sometimes be viewed as a cautious signal by investors. SEC filing for Paige K. Robbins sale

Insider Activity

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,745,625.48. The trade was a 12.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total transaction of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,554 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,913,067.24. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of GWW opened at $1,282.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,133.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,068.13. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $906.52 and a 1-year high of $1,286.56. The stock has a market cap of $60.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. W.W. Grainger's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.79%.

W.W. Grainger Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc NYSE: GWW is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger's product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.

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