Sowell Financial Services LLC Invests $781,000 in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 790 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $781,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,773.08. This represents a 56.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,205 shares of company stock worth $2,255,320. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.7%

GWW traded down $7.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1,035.51. 392,276 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,592. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,053.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,046.60. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $888.75 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.21.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business's revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is 23.21%.

About W.W. Grainger

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.