Hyman Charles D Purchases New Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Hyman Charles D purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,451,000 after purchasing an additional 204,507 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after purchasing an additional 47,731 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,712,000 after purchasing an additional 43,043 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 102.1% during the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,565,000 after purchasing an additional 23,055 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 18.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,809,000 after purchasing an additional 22,523 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.6 %

GWW traded up $5.85 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $945.89. 193,240 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 238,686. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $977.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $886.65. The firm has a market cap of $46.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $641.95 and a 1 year high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.19.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens upgraded W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $938.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.