West Family Investments Inc. Acquires Shares of 249 W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth about $536,916,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the first quarter valued at approximately $285,574,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,853,714,000 after purchasing an additional 238,895 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 10.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 822,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $812,403,000 after buying an additional 75,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the first quarter worth $67,601,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,035.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $1,009.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.86, for a total value of $496,430.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,758,355.06. This represents a 22.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:GWW opened at $948.63 on Monday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $893.99 and a 12-month high of $1,215.00. The firm has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $953.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,003.76.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.63% and a net margin of 10.99%.W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.87 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.35%.

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.