Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Reduces Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 14.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,571 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.05% of W.W. Grainger worth $27,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $810,586,000 after buying an additional 12,445 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $571,042,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after acquiring an additional 47,731 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $392,470,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 440,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $365,334,000 after purchasing an additional 10,940 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Baird R W downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW stock traded down $2.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $912.55. The stock had a trading volume of 169,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,529. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $674.41 and a 52-week high of $1,034.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $924.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $927.92. The company has a market cap of $44.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.17.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on 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 owns 1,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,691,289.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.