Mizuho Securities USA LLC Raises Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 236.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,988 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $11,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Baird R W raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,178.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,078.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $988.48. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $772.13 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.23%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of W.W. Grainger 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares in the company, valued at $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733 in the last quarter. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger 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.