Valley National Advisers Inc. Cuts Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Valley National Advisers Inc. lessened its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 96.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,746 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 196.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 24 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 316.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 25 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 136.4% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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. One equities research 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $1,009.43.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,023.98 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $48.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $971.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $992.28. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $893.99 and a twelve month high of $1,139.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 49.40%. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $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. As a group, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total transaction of $11,829,368.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,035,434.45. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety 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 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.