Avity Investment Management Inc. Sells 25 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Avity Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 5.1% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,821,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 15.1% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,303,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.4% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 20,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,410,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 16.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 163.4% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,266,000 after buying an additional 2,929 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital decreased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird cut W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Baird R W cut W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $902.24. The stock had a trading volume of 422,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,463. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $674.41 and a 12 month high of $1,034.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $928.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $924.92.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.61 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.22 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 22.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total transaction of $467,667.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,691,289.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.