Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Invests $63.91 Million in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 67,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,913,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 50.0% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 30 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Burney Co. grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.6% during the second quarter. Burney Co. now owns 1,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,828,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.3% in the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,415,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GWW shares. Barclays lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,045.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $1,016.57.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,034.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $49.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $995.13 and its 200 day moving average is $990.75. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $893.99 and a 12-month high of $1,139.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

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

About W.W. Grainger

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.