LVW Advisors LLC Acquires 348 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

LVW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 136.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 5.2% in the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.0% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.0% in the third quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,895,021.36. The trade was a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,113.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,131.22 and its 200 day moving average is $1,054.04. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $855.01 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The firm has a market cap of $54.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.43 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.97 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GWW. 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 W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,140.56.

About W.W. Grainger

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.