W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Bought by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $2,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.6 %

GWW traded up $14.73 on Tuesday, reaching $956.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 138,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 230,259. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $979.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $869.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $47.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $641.95 and a fifty-two week high of $1,034.18.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.05 by $0.28. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GWW. UBS Group boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $913.89.

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.