McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. Sells 6,377 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lessened its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,377 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $4,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,670,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,855,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 28.2% in the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banyan Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at about $662,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GWW. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,045.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,045.75.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,079.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,016.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $992.55. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $893.99 and a 1-year high of $1,103.69. The company has a market cap of $51.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.12.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 49.40%. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 25.35%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total value of $11,829,368.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,035,434.45. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.