OLD National Bancorp IN Has $3.70 Million Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

OLD National Bancorp IN lowered its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 512 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $3,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,558,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 9,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,402,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unique Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GWW. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Northcoast Research started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target for the company. Finally, Baird R W raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 1.1 %

GWW stock opened at $1,125.99 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $874.98 and a 1-year high of $1,227.66. The firm has a market cap of $54.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,121.45 and its 200-day moving average is $1,063.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.