W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) VP Sells $793,616.46 in Stock

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,035.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $49.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $992.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,065.80. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $874.98 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 23.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,120.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $684,042,000 after acquiring an additional 691,783 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $535,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $267,529,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $175,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 514,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $542,126,000 after buying an additional 115,290 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.