Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Acquires 2,609 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 87.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,593 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the period. W.W. Grainger comprises approximately 0.9% of Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $5,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GWW. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,941 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 334 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 838 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW traded up $7.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $1,083.54. The stock had a trading volume of 144,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,683. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1,030.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,057.73. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $874.98 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market cap of $52.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.62 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change 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, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was 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 now owns 578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total value of $301,056.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,320 in the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.