Caprock Group LLC Makes New $4.21 Million Investment in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,205,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 54.9% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,020,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.4% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,009,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GWW. Oppenheimer upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target 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 report on Monday, November 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,060.13.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,202.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $57.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,053.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,000.01. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,208.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.02). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 107,862 shares in the company, valued at $104,929,232.22. This represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $199,666.35. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,881 shares of company stock valued at $26,157,155. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.