TrueWealth Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

TrueWealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 36 shares during the quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 36.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,201.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 11.2% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 59,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,857,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 576.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 4,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 280.4% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GWW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. Northcoast Research began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Baird R W upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given 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, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,058.50.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW traded down $4.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,105.07. The stock had a trading volume of 248,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,030. The firm has a market cap of $53.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.15. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $747.00 and a 12 month high of $1,130.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1,035.68 and a 200 day moving average of $971.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.69 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.23%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total value of $13,481,538.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,281,004.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger 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.