Xponance Inc. Purchases 302 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,989 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $9,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 47 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $602,773.08. This 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 target price on the stock. in a 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,116.25.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.1%

W.W. Grainger stock traded up $11.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $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 quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.74. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,062.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,037.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.62 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

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.