W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management trimmed its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.7% in Q4 to 48,374 shares (~0.10% of the company), while the CFO sold 1,488 shares under a Rule 10b5-1 plan; at the same time large investors like Vanguard, Parnassus and MFS have added or built sizable positions, leaving roughly 80.7% institutional ownership.
• Analysts maintain a Hold consensus (2 Buy, 5 Hold, 1 Sell) with a consensus target of $1,118.14; Grainger posted a slight EPS miss ($9.45 vs. $9.46) but beat revenue and set FY2026 guidance of $42.25–$44.75 EPS.
• Grainger raised its quarterly dividend to $2.49 ($9.96 annualized, 0.9% yield), and the stock trades around $1,145 with a market cap of $54.24 billion and a P/E of ~32.4.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,374 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,362 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.10% of W.W. Grainger worth $48,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter worth approximately $721,202,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $239,597,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $422,529,000 after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $5,462,252,000 after purchasing an additional 104,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 899.0% in 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 in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,118.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 $11,745,625.48. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their position. The sale 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 company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,145.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,117.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,051.38. The stock has a market cap of $54.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,218.63.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. 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. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.54%.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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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