Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC Invests $200,000 in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $906,700,000 after acquiring an additional 87,189 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at about $55,815,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 1,653.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,058,000 after buying an additional 53,729 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 154,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,237,000 after buying an additional 47,053 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,109.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,135.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,049.25. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $836.84 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a market cap of $54.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18.

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

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued 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 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.23%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643 over the last three months. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.