M&T Bank Corp Purchases 85,254 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 899.0%, buying 85,254 shares to hold 94,737 shares (about 0.20% of the company) valued at roughly $95.59 million.
• Institutional ownership stands at 80.70%, with large recent positions from Parnassus ($721.2M), Sustainable Growth Advisers ($239.6M) and Vanguard (5.73M shares), signaling heavy institutional interest.
• Grainger reported quarterly EPS of $9.45 (miss by $0.01), set FY2026 guidance of $42.25–$44.75 EPS, has a ~$55.5B market cap and pays a $2.26 quarterly dividend (annualized $9.04, ~0.8% yield).

M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 899.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 94,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 85,254 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned about 0.20% of W.W. Grainger worth $95,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at $721,202,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at $239,597,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 140,869 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 104,607 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 96.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 149,920 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $141,896,000 after buying an additional 73,714 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,897,511.55. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW opened at $1,172.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,115.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,043.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $55.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $906.52 and a 1 year high of $1,218.63.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.W.W. Grainger's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.71 EPS. 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 43.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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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