Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC Sells 61 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC cut its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Stephens boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock traded down $18.58 on Friday, reaching $929.26. The stock had a trading volume of 357,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,078. The stock has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $979.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $873.99.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.61 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

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.