W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.9% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GWW shares. StockNews.com raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $955.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $979.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $862.80. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $641.95 and a twelve month high of $1,034.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.05 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.55%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.