Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 1,193 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its stake by 5.9% in W.W. Grainger during Q4, selling 1,193 shares and ending the period with 19,062 shares valued at about $19.56 million.
• W.W. Grainger CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares on April 2 for roughly $1.66 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, trimming her holding by 12.37% to 10,541 shares.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—two Buys, five Holds and one Sell—with an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,096.71, while recent targets range up to $1,300 (Oppenheimer); the stock trades near $1,164 with a market cap of about $55.1 billion.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,062 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,193 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $19,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at about $237,000. Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 4,361 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,401,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 72.3% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,374,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,808 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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 note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,096.71.

Insider Activity

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,745,625.48. This trade represents a 12.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,164.25 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,116.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,040.74. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $906.52 and a 52-week high of $1,218.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.10 billion, a PE ratio of 32.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.71 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is 25.54%.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.