Merit Financial Group LLC Buys New Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 62,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,424,000 after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 187.0% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth $2,905,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,513,055.31. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total value of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,122.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,125.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,057.85. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $870.99 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GWW. Baird R W raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,140.56.

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.