Insider Selling: W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) VP Sells 761 Shares of Stock

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 578 shares in the company, valued at $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,035.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $992.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,065.99. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $874.98 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The company has a market cap of $49.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GWW shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,120.00.

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.