W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Position Raised by OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 11.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 36.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,664,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,201.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 576.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 4,737 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 280.4% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after buying an additional 1,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 72.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,034,000 after buying an additional 5,804 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,172.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $57.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,086.44 and its 200-day moving average is $992.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $772.13 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its 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 company 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%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Baird R W upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,109.00.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares in the company, valued at $814,070.25. This trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. This represents a 19.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock worth $52,640,733. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.