Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Has $21.49 Million Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• Birch Hill Investment Advisors increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 5.6% in Q4 to 21,301 shares, valued at approximately $21.49 million.
• Grainger posted quarterly EPS of $9.45 (missing estimates by $0.01) with revenue of $4.43 billion (beating estimates), and set FY2026 guidance of $42.25–$44.75 EPS versus analysts' ~40.3 expectation.
• CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares for about $2.49 million, reducing her stake by 18.6%; insiders now own 6.3% of the company.

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,301 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $21,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 314.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 650.0% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 25.5% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,164.25 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,218.63. The stock's 50 day moving average is $1,116.77 and its 200-day moving average is $1,040.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $55.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,096.71.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total value of $2,490,403.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,897,511.55. This represents a 18.60% 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. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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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