Oak Thistle LLC Invests $440,000 in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,074,702,000 after purchasing an additional 45,369 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,679,911,000 after buying an additional 40,992 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,208,610,000 after buying an additional 28,626 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 8.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,188,000 after acquiring an additional 42,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 324,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,956,000 after acquiring an additional 12,805 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GWW. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Baird R W raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,140.56.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643 in the last 90 days. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,109.85 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,136.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,048.83. The company has a market cap of $54.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $836.84 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.23%.

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.