Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 700 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 4.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $17,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 170.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $26,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 225.0% during the first quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the first quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $42,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total value of $13,481,538.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at $102,281,004.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GWW. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,043.20.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of GWW opened at $1,090.94 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $687.55 and a twelve month high of $1,129.92. The company has a market cap of $53.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,022.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $967.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.58 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 53.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.69 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 22.50%.

W.W. Grainger 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.