Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 1,109 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,824 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,109 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $17,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Loop Capital lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $913.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.1 %

GWW traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $942.07. 235,683 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 231,544. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $641.95 and a 12-month high of $1,034.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $979.33 and a 200 day moving average of $869.76. The firm has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 56.54%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.55%.

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.