Public Sector Pension Investment Board Cuts Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Public Sector Pension Investment Board cut its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 90.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 112,573 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $11,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at approximately $721,202,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth about $536,916,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,853,714,000 after acquiring an additional 238,895 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $422,529,000 after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,913,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GWW shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,060.13.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,130.45 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,218.63. The stock has a market cap of $53.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,059.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,000.72.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.54%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.81, for a total transaction of $14,128,119.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 107,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,929,232.22. The trade was a 11.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155 in the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.