W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Bought by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,069 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,656 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of W.W. Grainger worth $54,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,451,000 after acquiring an additional 204,507 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,074,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $846,989,000 after acquiring an additional 5,744 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,027,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $706,047,000 after acquiring an additional 100,380 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $520,163,000 after acquiring an additional 13,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 654,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $364,168,000 after acquiring an additional 130,519 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Stephens increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $964.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $625.97 and a fifty-two week high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $979.43 and a 200 day moving average of $859.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.55%.

W.W. Grainger 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.