Blair William & Co. IL Sells 322 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Blair William & Co. IL cut its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 54,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 322 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $57,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 111.1% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 38 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $987.04 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $874.98 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,030.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,076.42. The firm has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GWW shares. William Blair upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,151.50.

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.