Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Purchases Shares of 654 W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 654 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $689,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $535,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $267,529,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth $175,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 514,326 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $542,126,000 after buying an additional 115,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $718,769,000 after buying an additional 84,595 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research downgraded 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 note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,120.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock traded up $17.92 on Friday, reaching $1,102.43. 382,705 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,549. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.49. The company's 50-day moving average is $1,000.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,065.22. The firm has a market cap of $52.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $874.98 and a 1-year high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio is 23.21%.

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.