Deidra Merriwether Sells 2,339 Shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) CFO Deidra Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total transaction of $2,490,403.47. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,897,511.55. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,063.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,106.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,023.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.83. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $893.99 and a 1-year high of $1,218.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.71 earnings per share. The company’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 anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 25.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stance Capital LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 197.6% in the 4th quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 3,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,018,000 after acquiring an additional 2,644 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 1,392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $605,000. Finally, Bayban bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 report 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 stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,080.38.

About W.W. Grainger

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.