Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Sells 35 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 53.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 140 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 14.2% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,401,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 294.8% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,508 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 24.8% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InterOcean Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.3% in the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Baird R W upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America started 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. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,172.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.15. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $772.13 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,082.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $990.71.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS 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 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 posted $9.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at $111,650,478.38. This represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.