W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Holdings Cut by TI Trust Inc.

TI Trust Inc. reduced its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. TI Trust Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GWW. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total transaction of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $602,773.08. This trade represents a 56.83% 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 1,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction of $1,160,647.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,205 shares of company stock worth $2,255,320 over the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,024.37 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $888.75 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $49.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,055.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,044.43.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.28% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 23.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GWW. Wolfe Research lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. William Blair upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,123.13.

About W.W. Grainger

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.