Horizon Investments LLC Lowers Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Horizon Investments LLC lessened its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 29.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,272 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position 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 worth $338,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $11,745,625.48. This trade represents a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on 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. Barclays increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two investment 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,118.14.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE GWW opened at $1,143.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $906.52 and a 1 year high of $1,218.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,118.39 and its 200 day moving average is $1,053.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.10 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.14%.

About W.W. Grainger

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.