Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 57.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 250.0% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 111.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 38 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 38.9% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 50 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Loop Capital increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.1 %

GWW opened at $1,122.01 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $870.99 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,125.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,057.85. The firm has a market cap of $54.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.23%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.