W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 663 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $15,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 314.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. State of Wyoming grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,118.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the business’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 transaction of $2,490,403.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,897,511.55. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.0%

GWW stock opened at $1,149.67 on Friday. 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. The stock has a market cap of $54.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.49, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,118.39 and its 200 day moving average is $1,052.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 28.14%.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.