Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC Sells 150 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $258,792,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after buying an additional 204,507 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,568.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,122,000 after buying an additional 155,143 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 654,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $364,168,000 after buying an additional 130,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,027,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $706,047,000 after buying an additional 100,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GWW. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.1 %

GWW stock traded down $10.39 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $954.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 236,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,308. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $641.95 and a 52 week high of $1,034.18. The stock has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $979.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $860.94.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.05 by $0.28. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 56.54%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.