W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Sold by Man Group plc

Man Group plc decreased its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,240 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,453 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $16,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GWW. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GWW shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,120.00.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW traded down $10.51 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $1,081.02. The stock had a trading volume of 150,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,880. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $874.98 and a 1-year high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market cap of $51.93 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,006.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,065.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.49.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.62 EPS. W.W. Grainger's revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $2.26 per share. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger 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.