LPL Financial LLC Purchases 1,644 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. by 2.5% to a total of $65.09 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Insider activity shows significant sales, with VP Laurie R. Thomson selling 761 shares at an average price of $1,042.86, marking a 56.83% decrease in her position.
• W.W. Grainger reported an EPS of $9.86 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $2.26 per share set to be paid on September 1st.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,286 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.14% of W.W. Grainger worth $65,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 486 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.7% in the first quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 270 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 34.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 47 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 128 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president owned 578 shares in the company, valued at $602,773.08. This trade represents a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research cut W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,215.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,116.25.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock traded down $107.29 on Friday, hitting $932.25. 1,263,025 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 324,513. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $893.99 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,054.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,035.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.07 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.52 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 51.28%. The business's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.76 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

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.