Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Sells 889 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc reduced its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 11.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 889 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $7,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GWW. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,019,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,037,728,000 after purchasing an additional 23,399 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,214,000 after buying an additional 10,533 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,462.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,081,554,000 after buying an additional 1,003,237 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,027,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,584,000 after buying an additional 389,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 659,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $628,151,000 after buying an additional 3,114 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GWW. Barclays cut their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,171.00 to $1,166.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on 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. Wolfe Research upgraded W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $1,250.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,216.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,369.66 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $906.52 and a twelve month high of $1,405.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $64.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.84, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,305.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,174.54.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.86 earnings per share. 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 45.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $2.49 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 26.79%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total value of $385,518.97. Following the sale, the vice president owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $491,444.31. The trade was a 43.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,067.24. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,624 shares of company stock valued at $3,232,291 in the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.