Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Grows Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $6,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 18.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 169.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,407 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 35.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,051,000 after purchasing an additional 10,784 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,897,511.55. This trade represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total value of $1,795,446.53. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,471.28. This represents a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Key W.W. Grainger News

Here are the key news stories impacting W.W. Grainger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Grainger’s recent quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue, and management raised full-year guidance, supporting the stock. 3 Industrial Stocks That Just Crushed Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised earnings estimates across several future periods, including FY2027, signaling stronger profit expectations for W.W. Grainger. W.W. Grainger stock page
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays also published a positive outlook for GWW, adding to the constructive analyst sentiment around the stock. Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock Price
• Negative Sentiment: Three insiders, including vice presidents and a senior vice president, sold shares on May 12, which can sometimes be viewed as a cautious signal by investors. SEC filing for Paige K. Robbins sale

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,282.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.69. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $906.52 and a one year high of $1,286.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,133.04 and its 200 day moving average is $1,068.13.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.86 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $2.49 dividend. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 26.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,199.13.

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.