Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Buys 71 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $8,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 170.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 225.0% in the 1st quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Baird R W downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,014.11.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW traded up $7.91 on Friday, hitting $946.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 240,562. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $674.41 and a 1 year high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $46.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $950.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $953.68.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.58 by $0.18. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 53.25%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.28 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

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

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.