Mather Group LLC. Purchases 66 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $906,700,000 after buying an additional 87,189 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth about $55,815,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1,653.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,058,000 after acquiring an additional 53,729 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,074,702,000 after acquiring an additional 45,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $568,188,000 after purchasing an additional 42,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on 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. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,148.56.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,044.53 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $874.98 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,105.24 and a 200-day moving average of $1,066.89.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 41.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.18%.

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.