Insider Selling: W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) CFO Sells 2,339 Shares of Stock

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) CFO Deidra Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total value of $2,490,403.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,897,511.55. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW traded up $9.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,075.04. 181,620 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 281,471. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,106.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,023.17. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $893.99 and a 12 month high of $1,218.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 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, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 25.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,080.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth about $229,000. MAI Capital Management increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 85,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,202,000 after purchasing an additional 19,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.