AlphaMark Advisors LLC Invests $37,000 in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 35 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 187.0% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,264,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,905,000. Silver Lake Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% during the second quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 2,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 36.4% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 14.4% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,255,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of GWW opened at $1,122.01 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,125.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,059.99. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $870.99 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The company has a market capitalization of $54.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

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

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,140.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at $10,513,055.31. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total value of $10,705,553.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. The trade was a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643 over the last three months. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.