Alpine Bank Wealth Management Acquires Shares of 285 W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on GWW shares. William Blair raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,123.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,320 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,042.69 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,054.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,044.57. The company has a market cap of $50.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.21. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $888.75 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 51.28%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 23.21%.

About W.W. Grainger

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.