KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 2,040 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS reduced its stake in W.W. Grainger by 8.9% in Q4, selling 2,040 shares and leaving 20,790 shares valued at about $20.98 million.
• W.W. Grainger CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares on April 2 at an average price of $1,114.28 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, cutting her ownership by 12.37%.
• Grainger set FY2026 EPS guidance of 42.25–44.75; it reported Q EPS of $9.45 (missed by $0.01) with revenue up 4.5% year-over-year and pays an annualized dividend of $9.04 (≈0.8% yield).

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS reduced its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,790 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,040 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $20,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at approximately $721,202,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at approximately $239,597,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $422,529,000 after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,462,252,000 after purchasing an additional 104,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 899.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 94,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $95,594,000 after purchasing an additional 85,254 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total transaction of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $11,745,625.48. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,155.77 on Thursday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $1,114.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,044.51. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $906.52 and a 52 week high of $1,218.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1,118.14.

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.

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