Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 2,203 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 44.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,203 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 51.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,912,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Summitry LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 623 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupe la Francaise raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 3,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,788,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total transaction of $1,795,446.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,471.28. This represents a 39.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,913,067.24. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,624 shares of company stock worth $3,232,291. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,281.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $60.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $906.52 and a twelve month high of $1,419.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,341.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,211.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.30 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 48.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.97 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 26.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased 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 research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,460.00 to $1,428.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,271.75.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.