Blue Trust Inc. Has $996,000 Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 35.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 959 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,679,911,000 after buying an additional 40,992 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,208,610,000 after buying an additional 28,626 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,188,000 after buying an additional 42,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 324,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,956,000 after buying an additional 12,805 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price for the company. Baird R W upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 stock 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 assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,131.17 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,124.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,063.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $874.98 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. The trade was a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by 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.