Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 15.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 6.4% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,993,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 7.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,857,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,120,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.0% during the third quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,346,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.7% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded 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 note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,030.70.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of W.W. Grainger 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $102,281,004.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at $102,281,004.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,125.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,008.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $964.28. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $674.41 and a 12 month high of $1,128.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.58 by $0.18. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 53.25% and a net margin of 10.86%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.64%.

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.