W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Sold by Sachetta LLC

Sachetta LLC reduced its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9 shares during the quarter. Sachetta LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $906,700,000 after acquiring an additional 87,189 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,815,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1,653.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,058,000 after buying an additional 53,729 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,188,000 after buying an additional 42,866 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GWW. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,122.01 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $870.99 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,125.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,057.85. The company has a market capitalization of $54.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643 over the last ninety days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.