W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) CFO Sells $3,072,723.18 in Stock

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 4,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.66, for a total value of $3,072,723.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,739.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE GWW opened at $663.50 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $634.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $583.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $440.48 and a fifty-two week high of $709.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last released its 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. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 60.13% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 33.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 85,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $929,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 36,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,447,000 after acquiring an additional 5,415 shares during the last quarter. 71.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GWW. Oppenheimer upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $660.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $650.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Loop Capital upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $695.00 to $800.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $490.00 to $537.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $688.88.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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W.W. Grainger, Inc is a supplier of maintenance, repair, and operating products, with operations in North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. It operates through the following segments: High-Touch Solutions N.A., Endless Assortment, and Other. The High-Touch Solutions N.A. segment is involved in value-added MRO solutions that are rooted in deep product knowledge and customer expertise.