W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Rating Increased to Outperform at Oppenheimer

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) was upgraded by research analysts at Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $1,250.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on GWW. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,045.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,045.75.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.6%

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,051.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.72. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,139.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,005.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $991.25.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.87 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total transaction of $11,829,368.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,035,434.45. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $721,202,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at about $536,916,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at approximately $239,597,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,853,714,000 after purchasing an additional 238,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $422,529,000 after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.