Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires 83 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 38.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GWW. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the first quarter worth approximately $285,574,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 822,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $812,403,000 after buying an additional 75,644 shares during the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the first quarter worth approximately $67,601,000. Interval Partners LP raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,429.9% during the first quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 67,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,130,000 after buying an additional 63,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,388,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,322,801,000 after buying an additional 57,690 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,176.00 to $1,007.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,035.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $950.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,215.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,053.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.86, for a total value of $496,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,758,355.06. This represents a 22.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $955.30 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $893.99 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.82. The company has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $980.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,016.03.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.07 by ($0.10). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 49.63%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.94%.

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.