Avity Investment Management Inc. Sells 25 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Avity Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $810,586,000 after buying an additional 12,445 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $571,042,000 after buying an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after buying an additional 47,731 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $392,470,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 440,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $365,334,000 after buying an additional 10,940 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Stephens raised W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $959.44.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In related news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total value of $467,667.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,848 shares in the company, valued at $1,691,289.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock traded down $1.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $902.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 422,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,463. The stock has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $928.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $924.92. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $674.41 and a 52 week high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.22 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.64%.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.