Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $320,000 in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GWW shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Stephens upgraded W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $948.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $641.95 and a 12-month high of $1,034.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $976.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $887.09.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About W.W. Grainger

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.