Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 451 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 451 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,996,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,902,159,000 after acquiring an additional 13,779 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $721,202,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 659,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $628,151,000 after acquiring an additional 3,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 477,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $482,016,000 after acquiring an additional 34,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,162.50 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,218.63. The stock has a market cap of $55.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,117.48 and its 200-day moving average is $1,050.71.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,118.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total transaction of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $11,745,625.48. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.