Swedbank AB Sells 14,597 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Swedbank AB lowered its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,597 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.37% of W.W. Grainger worth $188,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.9% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 5.2% in the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.0% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Northcoast Research started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,140.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643 in the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $1,131.78. 14,226 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 264,776. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $874.98 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market cap of $55.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,124.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,063.09.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.