Toroso Investments LLC Raises Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Toroso Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the quarter. Toroso Investments LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $2,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $27,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the first quarter worth $30,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth $31,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 260.0% during the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 90 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $650.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $490.00 to $537.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $695.00 to $800.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $688.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 4,623 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.66, for a total transaction of $3,072,723.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,739.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 4,623 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.66, for a total transaction of $3,072,723.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,739.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 49,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $694.36, for a total transaction of $34,107,657.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,240 shares in the company, valued at $55,715,446.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,434 shares of company stock valued at $38,315,317 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $681.33 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $632.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $583.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $34.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $440.48 and a twelve month high of $709.21.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 60.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 33.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.88%.

About W.W. Grainger

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W.W. Grainger, Inc operates as a supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products (MRO), with operations also in Europe, Asia and Latin America. It operates through two segments: United States and Canada. The United States segment offers a selection of MRO products and services through its eCommerce platforms, catalogs, branches and sales and service representatives.