Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Buys 1,291 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 34.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $4,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $536,916,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the 2nd 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. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 473,771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $492,836,000 after purchasing an additional 62,675 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 241,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,716,000 after buying an additional 35,404 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $29,023,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $1,009.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.81, for a total transaction of $14,128,119.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 107,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,929,232.22. This represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.3%

GWW stock opened at $1,029.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $981.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $990.39. The company has a market cap of $48.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.72. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,139.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $0.26. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.35%.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.