PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of W.W. Grainger worth $61,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1,201.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 576.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after buying an additional 4,737 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 280.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after buying an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 72.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,034,000 after acquiring an additional 5,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 19.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock worth $52,640,733. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,109.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.5 %

GWW stock opened at $1,178.45 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $772.13 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,090.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $993.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

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.