Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 308,779 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,662 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.64% of W.W. Grainger worth $305,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,330,688 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,618,812,000 after purchasing an additional 40,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,194,747 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,256,400,000 after acquiring an additional 27,716 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $684,042,000 after acquiring an additional 691,783 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $718,769,000 after acquiring an additional 84,595 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 584,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $616,465,000 after acquiring an additional 37,894 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,215.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,116.25.

Insider Activity

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total transaction of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total value of $301,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of GWW stock traded down $17.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $1,040.57. The company had a trading volume of 310,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,966. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $893.99 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,062.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,037.04. The company has a market cap of $49.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.28% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.62 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger's revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is 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.