Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 53.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 133 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,451,000 after acquiring an additional 204,507 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after buying an additional 47,731 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,712,000 after purchasing an additional 43,043 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 102.1% during the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,565,000 after buying an additional 23,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,809,000 after buying an additional 22,523 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GWW shares. Loop Capital cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE GWW traded up $2.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $958.32. The stock had a trading volume of 295,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 231,966. The company has a market capitalization of $47.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $641.95 and a 1-year high of $1,034.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $979.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $871.45.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. On average, analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.