First Trust Advisors LP Has $18.56 Million Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 21.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $18,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,337.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,230.11.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total transaction of $1,795,446.53. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,471.28. The trade was a 39.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $491,444.31. This trade represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,624 shares of company stock worth $3,232,291 in the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of GWW opened at $1,360.12 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,331.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,199.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.21 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.03. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,419.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.86 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.46 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.79%.

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.