Nordea Investment Management AB Has $5.53 Million Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Nordea Investment Management AB cut its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 85.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31,227 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $5,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $721,202,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $536,916,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $239,597,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $422,529,000 after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,462,252,000 after buying an additional 104,607 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,080.38.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE GWW opened at $1,063.48 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $893.99 and a 52 week high of $1,218.63. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,106.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,023.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.54%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction 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 approximately $10,897,511.55. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.