Tyche Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 502 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,074,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $846,989,000 after acquiring an additional 5,744 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 100,380 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 13,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 654,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $364,168,000 after purchasing an additional 130,519 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE GWW opened at $949.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $641.95 and a 52 week high of $1,034.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $980.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $863.40.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.55%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.