Unigestion Holding SA Grows Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Unigestion Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 1,743.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,359 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 14,526 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $15,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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, May 27th. William Blair upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:GWW traded up $7.58 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $1,083.54. 144,856 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,479. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $874.98 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The company 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,028.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,058.34.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.62 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,205,523.20. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total value of $301,056.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,622,348.80. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,320 in the last 90 days. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.