Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 3,396 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 132,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,396 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $134,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 18.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 169.6% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,980,000 after buying an additional 2,407 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 35.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,051,000 after acquiring an additional 10,784 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total transaction of $385,518.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $491,444.31. The trade was a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total transaction of $1,051,325.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,913,067.24. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GWW. Barclays raised their target price 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. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,250.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,217.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of GWW opened at $1,364.88 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,234.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,129.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,365.42.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $9.86 EPS. The firm’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. Equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.39 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

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.