Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $561,000 Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 44.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 451 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGH Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GWW. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on 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. Barclays boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,118.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,745,625.48. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,162.50 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,117.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,050.71. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,218.63. The firm has a market cap of $55.02 billion, a PE ratio of 32.85, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 earnings per share for the current year.

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.