W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Sold by Summitry LLC

Summitry LLC lowered its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Summitry LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,330,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,618,812,000 after purchasing an additional 40,376 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,679,911,000 after buying an additional 40,992 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,208,610,000 after acquiring an additional 28,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,188,000 after acquiring an additional 42,866 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,151.50.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $989.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,034.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,077.68. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $874.98 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.33 EPS. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.18%.

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.