Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Invests $14.42 Million in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,422,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GWW. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $684,042,000 after acquiring an additional 691,783 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $535,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $267,529,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $175,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 514,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $542,126,000 after acquiring an additional 115,290 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GWW. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,042.69 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $888.75 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The firm has a market cap of $50.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,054.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,044.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total transaction of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares in the company, valued at $602,773.08. This represents a 56.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,205,523.20. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,320 in the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.