Deidra C. Merriwether Sells 4,623 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Stock

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 4,623 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.66, for a total value of $3,072,723.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,739.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $663.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $634.90 and its 200-day moving average is $583.73. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $440.48 and a one year high of $709.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.97 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 60.13% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 33.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GWW shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $502.00 to $679.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $660.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $650.00 to $730.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Loop Capital boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $695.00 to $800.00 in a research note on Friday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $688.88.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $258,792,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1,568.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,122,000 after acquiring an additional 155,143 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 654,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $364,168,000 after acquiring an additional 130,519 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 413,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $240,933,000 after acquiring an additional 129,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 136.5% in the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 215,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,616,000 after buying an additional 124,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.76% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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W.W. Grainger, Inc is a supplier of maintenance, repair, and operating products, with operations in North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. It operates through the following segments: High-Touch Solutions N.A., Endless Assortment, and Other. The High-Touch Solutions N.A. segment is involved in value-added MRO solutions that are rooted in deep product knowledge and customer expertise.