IFP Advisors Inc Increases Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) by 126.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 343 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $441,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,790 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,233,000 after purchasing an additional 6,613 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 129,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 32,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,847,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 46,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. 71.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GWW. StockNews.com began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $785.00 to $800.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $730.00 to $760.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $750.00 to $800.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $502.00 to $679.00 in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $704.88.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $684.62 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $672.96 and a 200 day moving average of $624.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.19. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $440.48 and a 1 year high of $709.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.57 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 61.00% and a net margin of 10.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 35.89 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.72. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 476 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.74, for a total value of $325,460.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,183,553.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 476 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.74, for a total transaction of $325,460.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,183,553.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 4,623 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,739.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,220 shares of company stock worth $37,505,841 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

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.