Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 335 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $8,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after purchasing an additional 204,507 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $520,163,000 after purchasing an additional 13,063 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after purchasing an additional 47,731 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 455,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,478,000 after purchasing an additional 8,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 260,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $180,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $932.74 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $641.95 and a one year high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $978.53 and its 200 day moving average is $879.60. The firm has a market cap of $45.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.