Mattern Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Mattern Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,330,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,618,812,000 after acquiring an additional 40,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,194,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,256,400,000 after purchasing an additional 27,716 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $684,042,000 after purchasing an additional 691,783 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $718,769,000 after purchasing an additional 84,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 584,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $616,465,000 after buying an additional 37,894 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,042.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,054.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,044.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $888.75 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 51.28%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current 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 $2.26 dividend. This is an increase 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 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,320. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.