Sheets Smith Wealth Management Purchases 100 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $4,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 13,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $504,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 352.8% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $320,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GWW. Stephens raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock traded up $8.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $931.94. 129,810 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 262,386. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $977.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $881.99. The company has a market cap of $45.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $641.95 and a 12-month high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 20.54%.

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.