St. Clair Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

St. Clair Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 600 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GWW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $535,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $267,529,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $175,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 514,326 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $542,126,000 after buying an additional 115,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $718,769,000 after buying an additional 84,595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,120.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW stock traded down $3.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $1,077.70. The company had a trading volume of 157,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,053. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $874.98 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,008.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,065.16.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.