W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) VP Sells $150,753.75 in Stock

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,178.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,078.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $988.02. The company has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $772.13 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The company 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 company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 250.0% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 111.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 38 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GWW. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer cut W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.