Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,679,911,000 after acquiring an additional 40,992 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,208,610,000 after acquiring an additional 28,626 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $568,188,000 after purchasing an additional 42,866 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 324,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,956,000 after purchasing an additional 12,805 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,120.63 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $868.53 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market cap of $54.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,126.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,056.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

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.