Oak Thistle LLC Makes New $440,000 Investment in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $906,700,000 after purchasing an additional 87,189 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth $55,815,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.9% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 154,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,237,000 after buying an additional 47,053 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $568,188,000 after acquiring an additional 42,866 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer cut W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,140.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total transaction of $778,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total value of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. The trade was a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,109.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,136.75 and a 200-day moving average of $1,048.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $836.84 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.23%.

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.