W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden decreased its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,700 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $17,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GWW. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 36.4% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 7.3% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,801 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $13,354,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.5% in the second quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,666,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter worth about $702,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter worth about $4,558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GWW. Oppenheimer downgraded W.W. Grainger from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $925.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock traded up $11.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1,125.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 62,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,516. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,122.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,063.45. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $874.98 and a 1-year high of $1,227.66. The company has a market cap of $54.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares of the company's stock, valued at $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643 over the last ninety days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.