Everpar Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,375 W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,075,000. Sigma Planning Corp raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 23.4% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 11.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 71,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,638,000 after purchasing an additional 7,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 82,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,984,000 after purchasing an additional 8,865 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GWW. Loop Capital decreased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $938.89.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:GWW traded up $3.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $948.92. 234,548 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 238,648. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $641.95 and a one year high of $1,034.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $977.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $886.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

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.