W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al trimmed its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 73.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,600 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $6,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 211.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 314.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,199.13.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total transaction of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $11,745,625.48. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,252.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $59.14 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $906.52 and a 52-week high of $1,286.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,130.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,065.91.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.49 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.79%.

W.W. Grainger Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.