Invariant Investment Management Acquires Shares of 874 W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• Invariant Investment Management acquired 874 shares of W.W. Grainger in Q4 (about $900,000), representing 0.6% of its portfolio and the stock's 25th largest holding.
• CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares on March 24 for roughly $2.49 million, reducing her personal stake by 18.6% and leaving company insiders with about 6.3% ownership.
• Analysts are mixed overall with a consensus "Hold" and a $1,096.71 target; Grainger slightly missed quarterly EPS and issued FY2026 guidance of $42.25–$44.75 per share.

Invariant Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 874 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $900,000. W.W. Grainger accounts for 0.6% of Invariant Investment Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 136.4% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 211.1% in 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 period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 314.3% in 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 period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 650.0% in 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 period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the 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 $10,897,511.55. This represents a 18.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley increased 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 report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,096.71.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,156.07 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $906.52 and a 52-week high of $1,218.63. The stock has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50 day moving average is $1,119.45 and its 200 day moving average is $1,036.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.71 EPS. The firm'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. Sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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

W.W. Grainger Company 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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