Fiduciary Group LLC Sells 41 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Fiduciary Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after purchasing an additional 204,507 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $520,163,000 after buying an additional 13,063 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after buying an additional 47,731 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 455,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,478,000 after buying an additional 8,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 260,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $180,024,000 after buying an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $941.67.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of GWW opened at $929.26 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $641.95 and a twelve month high of $1,034.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $979.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $876.26.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.