California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 129,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 938 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $107,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 110.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 7,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,381,000 after buying an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.5 %

GWW opened at $955.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $979.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $871.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $641.95 and a 12 month high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GWW. Loop Capital downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. Stephens increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.