LS Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,312 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

LS Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,072 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,312 shares during the period. W.W. Grainger accounts for approximately 1.6% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $11,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,462,252,000 after purchasing an additional 104,607 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,996,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,902,159,000 after purchasing an additional 13,779 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter worth about $721,202,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 659,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $628,151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,114 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 477,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $482,016,000 after purchasing an additional 34,307 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated 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 $11,745,625.48. This trade represents a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,096.71.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 1.0%

GWW stock opened at $1,143.95 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $906.52 and a twelve month high of $1,218.63. The company has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,118.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,037.28. 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given 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 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.54%.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.