W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Sold by Israel Discount Bank of New York

Israel Discount Bank of New York lessened its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Israel Discount Bank of New York’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GWW. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,451,000 after buying an additional 204,507 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after purchasing an additional 47,731 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,712,000 after purchasing an additional 43,043 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 102.1% during the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,565,000 after purchasing an additional 23,055 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,809,000 after purchasing an additional 22,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GWW shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:GWW traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $928.58. 197,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 235,114. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $979.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $876.26. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $641.95 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.61 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.3 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 Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger 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 sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.