Vontobel Holding Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,258 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned 0.10% of W.W. Grainger worth $43,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,853,714,000 after purchasing an additional 238,895 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,982,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,062,041,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,260,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,306,289,000 after buying an additional 23,418 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at $536,916,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 473,771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $492,836,000 after buying an additional 62,675 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GWW. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,035.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $1,009.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total value of $11,829,368.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,035,434.45. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,017.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $967.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $993.38. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $893.99 and a 12 month high of $1,139.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.87 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.35%.

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.