Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 300 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Two Sigma Advisers LP decreased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $4,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,146 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,316,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GWW. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on 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. 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 research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock traded up $4.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1,086.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 86,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,923. The company has a market capitalization of $52.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1,018.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,062.31. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $874.98 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.49.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.62 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 578 shares in the company, valued at $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,205 shares of company stock worth $2,255,320 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger 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.