W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 405,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,940 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.85% of W.W. Grainger worth $386,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at about $721,202,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter worth about $536,916,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,853,714,000 after purchasing an additional 238,895 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $422,529,000 after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,913,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,145.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $893.99 and a one year high of $1,218.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,092.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,016.91. The company has a market capitalization of $54.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GWW shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,071.38.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.