UMB Bank n.a. Decreases Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

UMB Bank n.a. reduced its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $9,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth $848,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 313.3% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 1,521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 9,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 2,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped 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 upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Baird R W raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,140.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total transaction of $778,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.2 %

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,113.05 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $54.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $855.01 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,133.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,052.65. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

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.