Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 76.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,384 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $2,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 52.6% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 30 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.4% in the second quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.6% during the second quarter. Burney Co. now owns 1,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GWW shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,035.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $1,009.43.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW opened at $1,023.33 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $893.99 and a 1-year high of $1,139.15. The stock has a market cap of $48.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $967.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $993.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.87 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.35%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total value of $11,829,368.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,035,434.45. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.