DDD Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

DDD Partners LLC decreased its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. DDD Partners LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 7.2% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,372,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,447,721,000 after buying an additional 294,558 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after buying an additional 204,507 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,074,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $846,989,000 after buying an additional 5,744 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,027,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $706,047,000 after buying an additional 100,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $520,163,000 after buying an additional 13,063 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GWW. Oppenheimer raised 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. UBS Group raised 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 research note on Thursday, March 14th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Loop Capital cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of GWW opened at $1,020.17 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $953.67 and its 200 day moving average is $831.79. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $625.97 and a fifty-two week high of $1,034.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.88.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 56.54%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.55%.

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.