Mutual Advisors LLC Sells 281 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Mutual Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 37.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 479 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 281 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $602,773.08. This represents a 56.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,622,348.80. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GWW has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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 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 objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of GWW traded up $4.21 on Thursday, reaching $1,049.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 405,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,508. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $893.99 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,062.21 and a 200-day moving average of $1,037.94.

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

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $2.26 dividend. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.21%.

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.