Ritholtz Wealth Management Cuts Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Ritholtz Wealth Management lessened its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 82.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,727 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 211.1% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 314.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 650.0% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 25.5% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,096.71.

Insider Activity

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total transaction of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $11,745,625.48. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,143.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,118.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,037.28. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $906.52 and a 1 year high of $1,218.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

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.