State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Buys 1,390 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $15,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,169,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,667,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth $4,205,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.4% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 44,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,853,000 after buying an additional 4,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 109,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,060.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 107,862 shares in the company, valued at $104,929,232.22. The trade was a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 26,881 shares of company stock valued at $26,157,155 in the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,130.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,062.54 and a 200-day moving average of $1,001.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.75 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $893.99 and a 12 month high of $1,218.63.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.54%.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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.