Xponance Inc. Buys 215 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $10,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,702,000 after purchasing an additional 45,369 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,679,911,000 after buying an additional 40,992 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,208,610,000 after buying an additional 28,626 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 42,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 459,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $491,170,000 after acquiring an additional 58,978 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,151.50.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.3 %

GWW opened at $974.12 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $874.98 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The company has a market cap of $46.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,043.54 and a 200 day moving average of $1,076.79.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business earned $8.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 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.