Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $3.22 Million Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $3,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GWW. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 36.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1,201.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 576.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 4,737 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 280.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 27.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,109.00.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW opened at $1,217.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,102.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $999.46. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $772.13 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $59.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. The trade was a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. Corporate 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.