W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Bought by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 21.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 240,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,395 shares during the period. FIL Ltd’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $199,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GWW. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,451,000 after buying an additional 204,507 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $810,586,000 after purchasing an additional 12,445 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $520,163,000 after purchasing an additional 13,063 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $571,042,000 after purchasing an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after buying an additional 47,731 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $906.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $674.41 and a 1-year high of $1,034.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $941.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $916.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $2.05 dividend. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GWW. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Baird R W cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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.