W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,578 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $63,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.8% in 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 holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 169.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,407 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 35.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,051,000 after acquiring an additional 10,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GWW. Barclays increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,212.88.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,234.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,166.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,089.45. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $906.52 and a 1-year high of $1,286.56. The company has a market cap of $58.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.49 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 26.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total transaction of $385,518.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $491,444.31. This trade represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,913,067.24. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger 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.