Amalgamated Bank Boosts Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,304 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $10,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,681,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at about $208,000. TrueWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 9.4% in the third quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.4% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 10.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,122.38 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $54.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,038.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $973.17. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $758.11 and a twelve month high of $1,130.01.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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. This represents a 0.00 % 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 12,992 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total value of $13,481,538.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,198 shares of company stock valued at $41,784,426. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GWW. Wolfe Research upgraded W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Northcoast Research started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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. 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 given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,058.50.

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.