Toronto Dominion Bank Raises Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,673 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,628 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $24,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 578 shares in the company, valued at $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of GWW traded up $3.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1,084.48. 150,348 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 253,646. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $1,018.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,062.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $52.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $874.98 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is 23.21%.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.