Dakota Wealth Management Cuts Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Dakota Wealth Management cut its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 91.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,998 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $684,042,000 after acquiring an additional 691,783 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth $535,910,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $175,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 514,326 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $542,126,000 after acquiring an additional 115,290 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $718,769,000 after purchasing an additional 84,595 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective 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 note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,215.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 note on Tuesday, May 27th. Two investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,116.25.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,021.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $49.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $893.99 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,061.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,036.75.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 51.28% and a net margin of 11.08%. W.W. Grainger's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

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

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.

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