786 Shares in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Purchased by Oak Ridge Investments LLC

Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optas LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 1,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,058.50.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,105.07 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $747.00 and a 52 week high of $1,130.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,035.68 and a 200 day moving average of $971.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.16.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 53.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total value of $13,481,538.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.