Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 27 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. decreased its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,679,911,000 after purchasing an additional 40,992 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,188,000 after purchasing an additional 42,866 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 360,026 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,841,000 after purchasing an additional 17,699 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 324,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,956,000 after purchasing an additional 12,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $295,714,000 after purchasing an additional 8,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares in the company, valued at $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock worth $52,640,733. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GWW shares. Wolfe Research raised W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. Bank of America started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,109.00.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,193.99 on Tuesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $794.00 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,117.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,006.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.43 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.23%.

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.