W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund

Posted by on May 8th, 2023

Texas Permanent School Fund lowered its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $3,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1,568.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,122,000 after acquiring an additional 155,143 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 136.5% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 215,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,616,000 after acquiring an additional 124,600 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $2,719,249,000 after acquiring an additional 116,455 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,072,784,000 after acquiring an additional 80,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 289,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $149,367,000 after acquiring an additional 54,008 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $502.00 to $679.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $785.00 to $800.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. 92 Resources reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $537.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $704.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.74, for a total value of $325,460.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,731 shares in the company, valued at $1,183,553.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.74, for a total value of $325,460.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,183,553.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 49,121 shares of the 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 $55,715,446.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,910 shares of company stock worth $38,640,777. Insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $675.51 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.19. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $440.48 and a fifty-two week high of $709.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The business’s 50-day moving average is $672.63 and its 200-day moving average is $620.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.57 by $1.04. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 61.00% and a net margin of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 35.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 8th will be issued a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 5th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.72. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.10%.

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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