Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Sells 11 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 290 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Townsend & Associates Inc raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 16,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,021,000 after acquiring an additional 6,902 shares in the last quarter. Hyman Charles D bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $1,139,000. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $11,948,000. Finally, Simmons Bank acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GWW. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GWW traded up $7.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $955.98. The stock had a trading volume of 71,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 236,752. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $641.95 and a 12 month high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market capitalization of $46.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $976.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $887.09.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its 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. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated 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 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.