PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 442 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.10% of W.W. Grainger worth $48,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 34,269.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 435,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $439,407,000 after buying an additional 434,199 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at approximately $239,597,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,462,252,000 after acquiring an additional 104,607 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 899.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 94,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $95,594,000 after acquiring an additional 85,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 96.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 149,920 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,896,000 after acquiring an additional 73,714 shares during the last quarter. 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. Oppenheimer upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,199.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,239.64 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $906.52 and a 52 week high of $1,286.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,145.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,078.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.86 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.43 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total transaction of $1,051,325.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,067.24. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total transaction of $385,518.97. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 399 shares in the company, valued at $491,444.31. This represents a 43.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743 over the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.