Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,479 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,920 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of W.W. Grainger worth $55,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.4%

GWW stock traded up $4.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $1,049.50. The stock had a trading volume of 405,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 271,814. The firm has a market cap of $50.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,062.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,038.17. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $893.99 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

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

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is 23.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

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

About W.W. Grainger

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.