Sapient Capital LLC Takes $504,000 Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GWW. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GWW. Stephens raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $931.94 on Monday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $641.95 and a 12-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 50 day simple moving average is $977.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $883.19. The company has a market cap of $45.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 EPS for the current 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 paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

Insider Activity

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

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.