Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Has $970,000 Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,664,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1,201.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 576.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 4,737 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 280.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,932 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 72.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,034,000 after acquiring an additional 5,804 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,109.00.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value 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 trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock worth $52,640,733. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.5 %

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,178.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $57.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.15. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $772.13 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,090.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $993.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59.

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

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. 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.