W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,973 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 940 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of W.W. Grainger worth $41,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth $721,202,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at $239,597,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $422,529,000 after acquiring an additional 140,869 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the third 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. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 899.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 94,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $95,594,000 after purchasing an additional 85,254 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,745,625.48. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,118.14.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.0%

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,149.67 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,218.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,118.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,052.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.W.W. Grainger's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.14%.

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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