Swiss National Bank Sells 7,100 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 131,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $125,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 136.4% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3,900.0% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 40 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,106.86 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,097.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,019.60. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,218.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GWW shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of 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. 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, Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,071.38.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.