BankPlus Wealth Management LLC Makes New $770,000 Investment in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 187.0% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,354,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,131.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $874.98 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,124.86 and a 200-day moving average of $1,061.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

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.