Diversified Trust Co Sells 15 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Diversified Trust Co lowered its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $3,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,562,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 1,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMPACTfolio LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GWW. Wolfe Research raised shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer cut W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,140.56.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total transaction of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of GWW opened at $1,062.90 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $806.08 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,142.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,042.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $51.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

W.W. Grainger 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.