Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Trims Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 45.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,438 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,211 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GWW. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $684,042,000 after purchasing an additional 691,783 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $535,910,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $175,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 514,326 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $542,126,000 after acquiring an additional 115,290 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $718,769,000 after acquiring an additional 84,595 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,215.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded 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, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1,116.25.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW stock traded up $11.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,059.71. The stock had a trading volume of 324,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,641. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $893.99 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $1,062.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,037.73.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.28% and a net margin of 11.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.62 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,622,348.80. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the sale, the vice president owned 578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,773.08. This trade represents a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger 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.