Stifel Financial Corp Sells 9,504 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Stifel Financial Corp reduced its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 419,482 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 9,504 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.86% of W.W. Grainger worth $442,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GWW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1,130.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW stock traded down $4.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,015.06. The stock had a trading volume of 149,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,202. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $986.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,069.47. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $874.98 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,205,523.20. This trade represents a 10.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company 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.