W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Shares Acquired by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 20,605 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.14% of W.W. Grainger worth $61,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.0% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.8% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copperwynd Financial LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GWW. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,014.11.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $988.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.16. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $674.41 and a 1-year high of $1,034.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $956.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $954.45.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.58 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 53.25% and a net margin of 10.86%. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.28 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total value of $467,667.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,691,289.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.