252 Shares in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Bought by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.9% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of GWW opened at $958.32 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $641.95 and a twelve month high of $1,034.18. The company has a market cap of $47.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $980.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $872.05.

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

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GWW. 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 note on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $913.89.

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.