Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 97.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 70,159 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $2,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 169.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,407 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,051,000 after purchasing an additional 10,784 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,250.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,216.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total transaction of $1,658,048.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,745,625.48. The trade was a 12.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,067.24. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,112 shares of company stock valued at $4,890,339. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.7%

GWW opened at $1,362.19 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,390.96. The company has a market cap of $64.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,260.91 and a 200 day moving average of $1,148.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.39 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.79%.

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.