B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 24.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at $848,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 27.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,312,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 2,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 72.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 9,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kinsale Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 5,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price objective for the company. Baird R W raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,109.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,398 shares of company stock worth $25,116,181. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,120.93 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,148.62 and a 200-day moving average of $1,025.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $54.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.16. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $800.97 and a twelve 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.