W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Sold by Donaldson Capital Management LLC

Donaldson Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 20.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 766 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $2,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 196.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 24 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GWW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,045.75.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,079.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.12. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $893.99 and a 52-week high of $1,103.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,016.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $992.22.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its 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 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 analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the 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 directly owned 107,862 shares in the company, valued at $104,929,232.22. This represents a 11.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

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.