Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,893 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.53% of W.W. Grainger worth $219,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after acquiring an additional 204,507 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% in 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,712,000 after acquiring an additional 43,043 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 102.1% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,565,000 after acquiring an additional 23,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,809,000 after purchasing an additional 22,523 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 through the SEC website. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3 %

GWW stock opened at $948.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $46.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $976.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $887.09. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $641.95 and a 52 week high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $938.89.

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.