Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 19,913 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 25.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 58,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 19,913 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $55,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 143.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,102,000. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,071.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 2.9%

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,112.28 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $893.99 and a twelve month high of $1,218.63. The company has a market cap of $52.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,093.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,017.83.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

W.W. Grainger 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.