W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Purchased by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 33.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 1st quarter worth about $208,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,664,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,916,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 2,217.8% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,216.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.15. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $772.13 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,102.56 and a 200 day moving average of $999.46.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Baird R W raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Northcoast Research began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,109.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733 over the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.