W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 7.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $4,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GWW. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,664,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,201.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 11.2% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 59,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,857,000 after buying an additional 6,042 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 576.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 4,737 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 280.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GWW shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research raised W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,030.70.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,127.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.16. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $674.41 and a twelve month high of $1,128.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,008.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $964.03.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.58 by $0.18. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 53.25%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.28 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 22.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.