3,541 Shares in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Posted by on Mar 27th, 2023

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 432.7% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 3,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 137.0% in the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 49,121 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,715,446.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 49,121 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,715,446.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 4,623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.66, for a total transaction of $3,072,723.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,605 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,739.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,434 shares of company stock valued at $38,315,317 in the last ninety days. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $663.60 on Monday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $440.48 and a 52 week high of $709.21. The firm has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $647.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $588.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.48.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.97 by $0.17. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 60.13%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 33.29 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were given a dividend of $1.72 per share. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GWW. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $490.00 to $537.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $650.00 to $730.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. 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. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $502.00 to $679.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $688.88.

W.W. Grainger Profile

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W.W. Grainger, Inc is a supplier of maintenance, repair, and operating products, with operations in North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. It operates through the following segments: High-Touch Solutions N.A., Endless Assortment, and Other. The High-Touch Solutions N.A. segment is involved in value-added MRO solutions that are rooted in deep product knowledge and customer expertise.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW)

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