Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $5.54 Million Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 44.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,433 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $5,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Groupe la Francaise grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 3,224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. StoneX Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 74,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,952,000 after purchasing an additional 7,480 shares during the last quarter. Haven Private LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,773,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,212.88.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,300.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,306.51. The firm has a market cap of $61.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,188.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,101.24.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $2.49 per share. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total value of $2,490,403.47. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,897,511.55. This trade represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total transaction of $1,795,446.53. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,471.28. This represents a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.