Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 1,810 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,592 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,810 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $13,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 314.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 650.0% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total value of $1,795,446.53. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,471.28. This trade represents a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,554 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,913,067.24. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Stephens upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,212.88.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,300.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,188.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,101.24. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $906.52 and a 52-week high of $1,306.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.86 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is 26.79%.

About W.W. Grainger

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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