Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Buys 27 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GWW. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $906,700,000 after acquiring an additional 87,189 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at about $55,815,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,653.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,058,000 after purchasing an additional 53,729 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,188,000 after buying an additional 42,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at $10,513,055.31. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,113.05 on Tuesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $855.01 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,131.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,054.04. The company has a market cap of $54.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.23%.

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.