West Coast Financial LLC Has $9.07 Million Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

West Coast Financial LLC decreased its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. W.W. Grainger accounts for about 1.0% of West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $9,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total value of $301,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,622,348.80. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,205 shares of company stock worth $2,255,320. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research lowered W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,076.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,028.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,058.34. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $874.98 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market cap of $51.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.62 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

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.