Avior Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Avior Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 23 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $76,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GWW. Suncoast Equity Management lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 37,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,931,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 1,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 3,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,569,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $261,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 66,069 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW stock opened at $942.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $641.95 and a 12-month high of $1,034.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $979.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $866.89.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $4 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GWW. StockNews.com raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Loop Capital lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $913.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.50% 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.