Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $5.54 Million Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 44.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,433 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $5,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total value of $385,518.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $491,444.31. This represents a 43.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total transaction of $2,490,403.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,897,511.55. This represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,451 shares of company stock worth $7,380,743. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,212.88.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,300.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $61.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $906.52 and a one year high of $1,306.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,188.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,101.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.79%.

W.W. Grainger Profile

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.