Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 51,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,121 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 20,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,331,000 after purchasing an additional 4,741 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $858,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,821,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,303,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Stephens raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $959.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total transaction of $467,667.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,691,289.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock traded down $6.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $902.59. 57,694 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 240,828. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $929.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $924.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $674.41 and a 52-week high of $1,034.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.16.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.61 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.64%.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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.