Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 6,769 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 296,720 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,769 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.62% of W.W. Grainger worth $293,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $175,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,818 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,186,000 after buying an additional 7,033 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 159.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 202 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total transaction of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,773.08. This trade represents a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total value of $301,056.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on GWW shares. 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE GWW traded up $6.13 on Wednesday, hitting $1,042.75. 295,179 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,233. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,062.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,038.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $888.75 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during 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%. W.W. Grainger's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.62 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders 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 0.87%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.