Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Raises Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $422,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at about $721,202,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $536,916,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,853,714,000 after purchasing an additional 238,895 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 15.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 473,771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $492,836,000 after purchasing an additional 62,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 17.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 241,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,716,000 after purchasing an additional 35,404 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,045.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $1,016.57.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,068.63 on Monday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $893.99 and a 52-week high of $1,139.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $991.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $990.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.12.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $0.26. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. Research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.81, for a total value of $14,128,119.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 107,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,929,232.22. This trade represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,881 shares of company stock valued at $26,157,155. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.