Garner Asset Management Corp Has $1.72 Million Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 111.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 537.5% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 51 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GWW. Bank of America began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,109.00.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,206.65 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $772.13 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,098.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $997.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 3.30 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.23%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. Company 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.