Insider Selling: W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) VP Sells 313 Shares of Stock

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) VP Laurie Thomson sold 313 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 399 shares in the company, valued at $491,444.31. This trade represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE GWW traded up $28.89 on Thursday, hitting $1,281.74. 131,059 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,431. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $1,130.43 and its 200 day moving average is $1,065.91. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $906.52 and a 52 week high of $1,286.56. The company has a market capitalization of $60.51 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 26.79%.

Trending Headlines about W.W. Grainger

Here are the key news stories impacting W.W. Grainger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised several forward EPS estimates for W.W. Grainger, including Q2 2026, Q3 2026, Q4 2026, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, and FY2027, signaling improved earnings expectations for the industrial products company.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted that W.W. Grainger beat earnings estimates and raised full-year sales guidance, reinforcing the view that demand and profitability remain solid. 3 Industrial Stocks That Just Crushed Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Another report pointed to strong revenue growth and margin expansion in GWW’s latest quarter, suggesting the company is managing tariff headwinds better than expected. GWW Q1 Deep Dive: Strong Revenue Growth and Margin Expansion Amid Tariff Headwinds
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays issued a positive forecast for W.W. Grainger stock, adding to the bullish analyst backdrop. Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock Price
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp’s Q4 2027 estimate was trimmed slightly, but the change was modest and does not appear to outweigh the broader upward revisions across other periods.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,199.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,462,252,000 after buying an additional 104,607 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,019,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,037,728,000 after buying an additional 23,399 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,230,214,000 after buying an additional 10,533 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 1,462.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,081,554,000 after buying an additional 1,003,237 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 61.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,027,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,584,000 after buying an additional 389,589 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

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.