Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Trims Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $10,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GWW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $392,470,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after acquiring an additional 47,731 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,712,000 after acquiring an additional 43,043 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 240,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $199,595,000 after acquiring an additional 42,395 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 43,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,706,000 after acquiring an additional 18,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of the 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GWW. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Stephens raised W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.8 %

GWW stock traded up $7.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $903.25. 67,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 241,559. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $674.41 and a 52-week high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $927.49 and a 200-day moving average of $926.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.17.

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

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

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.