Cetera Advisors LLC Purchases 4,737 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 576.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,737 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $5,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GWW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $392,470,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,148,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,167,913,000 after acquiring an additional 169,897 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the first quarter valued at about $159,365,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,712,000 after purchasing an additional 43,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 240,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $199,595,000 after purchasing an additional 42,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GWW. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Baird R W lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Stephens raised W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,017.13.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW traded up $10.43 on Friday, reaching $952.79. The company had a trading volume of 361,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,770. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.30. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $674.41 and a 52-week high of $1,034.18. The company has a market cap of $46.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $924.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $944.58.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.58 by $0.18. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 53.25%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.1 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total transaction of $467,667.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,691,289.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.