Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Sells 4,187 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd trimmed its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,187 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $13,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 15.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,169,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,205,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 60,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,334,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 109,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,562,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GWW shares. Barclays raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,080.38.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,043.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,218.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,104.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,022.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

About W.W. Grainger

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.