Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 282 W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Loop Capital cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $913.89.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $942.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $979.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $869.76. The stock has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $641.95 and a 1-year high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.05 by $0.28. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 56.54%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.55%.

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.