Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 20 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $8,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the 3rd 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after acquiring an additional 47,731 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 455,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,478,000 after acquiring an additional 8,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 260,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $180,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of GWW stock traded down $24.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $923.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 154,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 233,152. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $641.95 and a 52-week high of $1,034.18. The stock has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $980.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $872.58.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction 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 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.