W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Stock Holdings Lowered by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB cut its position in W.W. Grainger by 81.9% in Q4, leaving it with 28,664 shares (about 0.06% ownership) valued near $28.9 million.
• Grainger beat Q1 expectations (EPS $11.65 vs. $10.21 est.; revenue $4.74B, +10% y/y) and raised FY2026 guidance to $44.25–$46.25 per share, citing margin expansion and services-driven growth.
• The company boosted its quarterly dividend by 10% to $2.49 ($9.96 annualized) and returned $345M via dividends and buybacks in Q1 while generating $739M of operating cash flow.

Swedbank AB lowered its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 81.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,664 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 129,693 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of W.W. Grainger worth $28,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GWW. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 169.6% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,407 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 35.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,388 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,051,000 after acquiring an additional 10,784 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,235.14 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $906.52 and a twelve month high of $1,286.56. 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 50-day moving average of $1,121.77 and a 200-day moving average of $1,058.34. The firm has a market cap of $58.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.86 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $2.49 per share. This is a boost 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 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is currently 28.14%.

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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1,118.14.

Key Headlines Impacting W.W. Grainger

Here are the key news stories impacting W.W. Grainger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — GAAP diluted EPS $11.65 vs. consensus ~$10.2 and revenue $4.74B vs. ~$4.58B; sales rose ~10% y/y and operating margin improved ~110 bps, showing margin expansion. GRAINGER REPORTS RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised FY2026 guidance — EPS guide of $44.25–$46.25 (above consensus) and revenue guide $19.2B–$19.6B, implying continued top‑line momentum. MarketBeat: GWW overview
• Positive Sentiment: Services demand cited as a growth driver; management signaled confident growth on the earnings call and analysts lifted views after the print. WW Grainger raises annual profit forecast on strong services demand
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns and cash generation: $739M operating cash flow in Q1 and $345M returned via dividends and buybacks; announced a 10% quarterly dividend increase — supports total‑return thesis. GRAINGER REPORTS RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and materials available for deeper due diligence (transcript and slide deck). Useful for investors wanting color on segment performance and execution. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and expectations: GWW currently trades at a premium (PE ~34.9, PEG ~2.47) — the premium may limit upside if growth or margin improvements slow. (Background metrics from market summaries.)

W.W. Grainger 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GWW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.