Pathstone Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Pathstone Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $17,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 36.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,664,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,201.6% during the 2nd 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. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 576.3% in the 1st 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 period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in 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 valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 72.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,034,000 after purchasing an additional 5,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,109.00.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,172.40 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $772.13 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,086.44 and a 200 day moving average of $992.40. 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 $57.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.43 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.23%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated 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 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 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total value of $10,705,553.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,895,021.36. The trade was a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. 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.