Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) had its price objective upped by analysts at Barclays from $963.00 to $975.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 2.08% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GWW. Loop Capital lowered their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $950.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,035.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,215.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,061.57.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW traded up $2.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $955.09. 23,388 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 290,820. The company has a market capitalization of $45.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.17. W.W. Grainger has a 1 year low of $893.99 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $974.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,014.79.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.63% and a net margin of 10.99%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.87 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 500 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.86, for a total value of $496,430.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,758,355.06. The trade was a 22.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $721,202,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at about $536,916,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $285,574,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,853,714,000 after purchasing an additional 238,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $422,529,000 after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.