Atria Investments Inc Cuts Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Atria Investments Inc lessened its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $6,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the first quarter worth about $211,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter valued at about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GWW. Baird R W upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research raised W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,058.50.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total transaction of $778,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at $10,513,055.31. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,775 shares of company stock worth $52,489,979. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.5 %

GWW opened at $1,220.93 on Tuesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $772.13 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,059.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $981.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.91 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

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.