US Bancorp DE Sells 706 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 706 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.11% of W.W. Grainger worth $58,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth approximately $281,104,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,148,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,167,913,000 after buying an additional 169,897 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 1st quarter worth $159,365,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $906,700,000 after buying an additional 87,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 563.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 72,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,232,000 after acquiring an additional 61,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,043.20.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE GWW opened at $1,110.72 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $721.99 and a twelve month high of $1,130.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,033.22 and its 200 day moving average is $970.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $54.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.16.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.58 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 53.25% and a net margin of 10.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.