Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $3,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 10.0% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on GWW shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Baird R W downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:GWW opened at $912.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.19. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $674.41 and a 1 year high of $1,034.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $924.89 and a 200-day moving average of $927.92.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.61 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.22 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total transaction of $467,667.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,691,289.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.