Pitcairn Co. Decreases Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• Pitcairn Co. cut its stake in W.W. Grainger by 62.8% in Q3, selling 1,376 shares and leaving it with 814 shares valued at about $776,000; overall institutional investors own roughly 80.7% of the stock.
• Brokerage activity is mixed: several firms raised price targets (JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer) and Oppenheimer rates the stock outperform, but the consensus rating remains Hold with a $1,071.38 average price target.
• Grainger slightly missed quarterly EPS (reported $9.45 vs. $9.46 expected) while revenue rose 4.5% YoY to $4.43B; management set FY2026 guidance of 42.25–44.75 EPS and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $2.26 (≈0.8% yield).

Pitcairn Co. trimmed its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 814 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,376 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.'s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 136.4% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Tobam increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3,900.0% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 40 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 650.0% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GWW. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,071.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,112.28 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,093.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,018.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $52.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,218.63.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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

W.W. Grainger Company 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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