Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $810,586,000 after purchasing an additional 12,445 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $571,042,000 after purchasing an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after buying an additional 47,731 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $392,470,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 440,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $365,334,000 after acquiring an additional 10,940 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Baird R W cut W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE GWW opened at $917.97 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $45.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $926.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $927.54. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $674.41 and a 12 month high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.22 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

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.