Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,383 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $45,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 314.3% in 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. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GWW. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,216.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of GWW opened at $1,362.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,260.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,148.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $906.52 and a one year high of $1,390.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $2.49 dividend. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 26.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total transaction of $385,518.97. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 399 shares in the company, valued at $491,444.31. The trade was a 43.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,745,625.48. This trade represents a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,112 shares of company stock valued at $4,890,339. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.