Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC Invests $249,000 in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 252 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares in the company, valued at $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,320 over the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,070.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $51.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50-day moving average is $1,047.57 and its 200-day moving average is $1,049.81. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $888.75 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.49.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The firm's revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GWW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.