Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 104,607 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 104,607 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.05% of W.W. Grainger worth $5,462,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 196.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 24 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 136.4% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 3,900.0% in the second quarter. Tobam now owns 40 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,132.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,066.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,002.77. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $893.99 and a one year high of $1,218.63. The company has a market capitalization of $53.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.54%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.81, for a total value of $14,128,119.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 107,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,929,232.22. The trade was a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 26,881 shares of company stock valued at $26,157,155 in the last 90 days. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GWW. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,060.13.

W.W. Grainger 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.