W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

GWW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,109.00.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW traded down $9.78 on Thursday, hitting $1,081.55. The stock had a trading volume of 325,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,841. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,150.98 and a 200-day moving average of $1,026.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59. W.W. Grainger has a 52-week low of $800.97 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The company has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.16.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.43 EPS. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 38.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,398 shares of company stock worth $25,116,181. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at approximately $281,104,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $906,700,000 after purchasing an additional 87,189 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 563.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 72,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,232,000 after purchasing an additional 61,400 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 67.9% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 143,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $129,175,000 after purchasing an additional 57,894 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,815,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.