LVW Advisors LLC Purchases 348 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 136.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $519,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, BNC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,309,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GWW shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer cut W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,113.05 on Tuesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $855.01 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,131.22 and a 200 day moving average of $1,054.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.43 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

Insider Activity

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About W.W. Grainger

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.