Argyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 305 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 305 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,451,000 after purchasing an additional 204,507 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after purchasing an additional 47,731 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,712,000 after purchasing an additional 43,043 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 102.1% during the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,565,000 after acquiring an additional 23,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,809,000 after acquiring an additional 22,523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GWW shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Stephens upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW traded down $18.58 on Friday, hitting $929.26. 357,385 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 211,078. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $641.95 and a 52 week high of $1,034.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $979.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $876.26. The company has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.