W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Purchased by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 81.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,462,252,000 after acquiring an additional 104,607 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,996,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,902,159,000 after acquiring an additional 13,779 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 659,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $628,151,000 after acquiring an additional 3,114 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 477,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $482,016,000 after acquiring an additional 34,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth about $239,597,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,745,625.48. The trade was a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GWW. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,199.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,252.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,286.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,130.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,065.91.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.86 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.24 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 26.79%.

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.