W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Acquired by UBS Group AG

Key Points

• UBS Group AG raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 11.6% in Q4, buying 18,868 shares to hold 180,990 shares (about 0.38% of the company) valued at roughly $182.6 million.
• Institutional ownership is high at 80.7% with major holders like Vanguard, State Street, Parnassus and MFS increasing positions, while analysts show a consensus "Hold" rating and a $1,118.14 price target despite several recent target upgrades.
• Grainger slightly missed quarterly EPS ($9.45 vs. $9.46) while beating revenue expectations, issued FY2026 guidance of $42.25–$44.75 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $2.49 (annualized $9.96, yield ~0.9%).

UBS Group AG grew its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,990 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,868 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned about 0.38% of W.W. Grainger worth $182,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,462,252,000 after acquiring an additional 104,607 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,996,053 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,902,159,000 after purchasing an additional 13,779 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth about $721,202,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 659,158 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $628,151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 477,693 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $482,016,000 after purchasing an additional 34,307 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GWW shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,118.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total transaction of $1,658,048.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $11,745,625.48. The trade was a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,145.89 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,117.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,051.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $906.52 and a 1 year high of $1,218.63.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. On average, analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $2.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.54%.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc NYSE: GWW is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger's product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.

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