M&T Bank Corp Raises Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 899.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,254 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $95,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,462,252,000 after purchasing an additional 104,607 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,996,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,902,159,000 after purchasing an additional 13,779 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $721,202,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 659,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $628,151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,114 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 477,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $482,016,000 after purchasing an additional 34,307 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total value of $2,490,403.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,897,511.55. This represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,172.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,115.91 and a 200 day moving average of $1,043.73. The company has a market cap of $55.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,218.63.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GWW shares. Barclays boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,118.14.

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.