Oarsman Capital Inc. Boosts Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $2,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Busey Bank raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, William Blair upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,130.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of GWW opened at $942.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.20. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $874.98 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,013.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,076.01.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. The trade was a 10.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.10% 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.