State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $15.02 Million Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,390 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $15,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,982,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,062,041,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,260,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,306,289,000 after purchasing an additional 23,418 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at about $721,202,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth about $536,916,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GWW shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,060.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,130.45 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,062.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,001.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.83. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $893.99 and a 52-week high of $1,218.63. The company has a market capitalization of $53.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the firm’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 value of $14,128,119.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,929,232.22. This represents a 11.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155 over the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.