GAMMA Investing LLC Buys New Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 6.9% during the third quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,075,000. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 23.4% in the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 11.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 71,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,638,000 after buying an additional 7,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 82,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,984,000 after buying an additional 8,865 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price 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. 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $913.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE GWW opened at $958.32 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $980.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $872.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $47.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.47, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $641.95 and a 12 month high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.05 by $0.28. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 20.55%.

W.W. Grainger 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.