W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Purchased by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 282.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,392 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $6,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 3.3% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Burney Co. raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 1,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.3% in the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,415,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,045.75.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,057.35 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,007.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $991.23. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $893.99 and a 52-week high of $1,139.15. The stock has a market cap of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.65, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.72.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $0.26. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 49.40%. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.87 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. Analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total value of $11,829,368.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,035,434.45. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,881 shares of company stock valued at $26,157,155. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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.