Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires 27 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Optas LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.9% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the second quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 1,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GWW. UBS Group initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,109.00.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,216.43 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,102.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $999.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $772.13 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total value of $10,705,553.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.