Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 2,529 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management reduced its W.W. Grainger stake by 48.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,529 shares and leaving it with 2,732 shares valued at about $2.76 million.
• W.W. Grainger reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $11.65 beating estimates and revenue of $4.74 billion topping expectations, while sales rose 10.1% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $2.49 per share from $2.26, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average target price of $1,212.88.

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 48.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,732 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,529 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $2,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 34,269.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 435,466 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 434,199 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $239,597,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,462,252,000 after purchasing an additional 104,607 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 899.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 94,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $95,594,000 after purchasing an additional 85,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 96.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 149,920 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $141,896,000 after purchasing an additional 73,714 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GWW. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,212.88.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,267.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $59.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,286.56. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1,170.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,092.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.86 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $2.49 dividend. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,067.24. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total transaction of $385,518.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 399 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $491,444.31. This represents a 43.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,451 shares of company stock worth $7,380,743. Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.