W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Stock Position Reduced by Romano Brothers AND Company

Romano Brothers AND Company trimmed its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,679,911,000 after acquiring an additional 40,992 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,208,610,000 after purchasing an additional 28,626 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $568,188,000 after purchasing an additional 42,866 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 324,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $336,956,000 after purchasing an additional 12,805 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares in the company, valued at $814,070.25. This trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of W.W. Grainger 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643 in the last three months. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,113.05 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,133.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,052.65. The firm has a market cap of $54.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $855.01 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is presently 22.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Baird R W upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,140.56.

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.