Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 992 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 9th, 2023

W.W. Grainger logo Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $4,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $27,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 260.0% in the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 90 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 35.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 92 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.76% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $700.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $35.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $619.73 and a 200-day moving average of $579.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $440.48 and a one year high of $709.21.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 60.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 33.03 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GWW shares. Atlantic Securities cut shares of W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, November 15th. Loop Capital upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $502.00 to $679.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $695.00 to $800.00 in a research note on Friday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $688.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 49,121 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $694.36, for a total transaction of $34,107,657.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 80,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,715,446.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other W.W. Grainger news, SVP Kathleen S. Carroll sold 1,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $671.56, for a total transaction of $1,134,936.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,199,359. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 49,121 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $694.36, for a total value of $34,107,657.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,715,446.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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W.W. Grainger, Inc operates as a supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products (MRO), with operations also in Europe, Asia and Latin America. It operates through two segments: United States and Canada. The United States segment offers a selection of MRO products and services through its eCommerce platforms, catalogs, branches and sales and service representatives.