National Pension Service Lowers Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

National Pension Service cut its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,458 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $57,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northeast Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth $208,000. TrueWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.4% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Finally, Realta Investment Advisors raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 11.8% during the third quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GWW. Loop Capital boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,058.50.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,122.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,038.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $973.17. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $758.11 and a 52-week high of $1,130.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,198 shares of company stock valued at $41,784,426 in the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is currently 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.