Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 9,313 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,313 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $62,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,558,000. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 8.6% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 9,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,402,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.0% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Baird R W raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,064.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.49. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $874.98 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,118.60 and a 200-day moving average of $1,065.90.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 41.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 21.18%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.