Natixis Advisors LLC Has $13.72 Million Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,810 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $13,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.3% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total transaction of $1,795,446.53. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,471.28. This trade represents a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total value of $2,490,403.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,897,511.55. This trade represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 6,451 shares of company stock worth $7,380,743 in the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,300.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $906.52 and a 1 year high of $1,306.51. The stock has a market cap of $61.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,188.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,101.24.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.86 earnings per share. The company’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 predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $2.49 per share. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GWW. Barclays raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,212.88.

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.