W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Holdings Raised by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,543 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $10,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. FMR LLC boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,451,000 after acquiring an additional 204,507 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after purchasing an additional 47,731 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,712,000 after buying an additional 43,043 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 102.1% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,565,000 after buying an additional 23,055 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 18.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,809,000 after buying an additional 22,523 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GWW stock opened at $945.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $977.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $886.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $641.95 and a fifty-two week high of $1,034.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

W.W. Grainger 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.