W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Purchased by Spire Wealth Management

Posted by on Apr 29th, 2023

Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) by 220.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 33 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $27,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,558,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,719,249,000 after buying an additional 116,455 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,192,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,072,784,000 after purchasing an additional 80,677 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 384,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $188,064,000 after purchasing an additional 10,080 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 377,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $184,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 339,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $166,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 49,121 shares of the company’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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 49,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,715,446.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 4,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.66, for a total transaction of $3,072,723.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,739.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,434 shares of company stock worth $38,315,317. Insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $785.00 to $800.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $502.00 to $679.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $815.00 in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $730.00 to $760.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $698.63.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $695.57 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $440.48 and a 52 week high of $709.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $670.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $612.91.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.57 by $1.04. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 60.13%. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.07 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 33.31 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be given a $1.86 dividend. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.72. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 5th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.88%.

About W.W. Grainger

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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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