Columbus Macro LLC trimmed its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,442 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 388 shares during the quarter. Columbus Macro LLC's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $5,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,330,688 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,618,812,000 after buying an additional 40,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,194,747 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,256,400,000 after buying an additional 27,716 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $684,042,000 after buying an additional 691,783 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $718,769,000 after buying an additional 84,595 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 584,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $616,465,000 after buying an additional 37,894 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
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 transaction, the vice president now owns 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,622,348.80. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,205,523.20. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research cut W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,123.13.
View Our Latest Research Report on GWW
W.W. Grainger Price Performance
Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,063.31 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $888.75 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.08 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,044.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,050.76.
W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.
W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is 23.21%.
About W.W. Grainger
(
Free Report)
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.
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