abrdn plc Buys 6,016 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

abrdn plc increased its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned 0.32% of W.W. Grainger worth $133,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GWW. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2,450.0% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 51 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.5 %

GWW traded up $5.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $942.65. 261,958 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 185,948. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $641.95 and a 1 year high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $979.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $865.64.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.05 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.55%.

W.W. Grainger 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.