Truist Financial Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Truist Financial Corp decreased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 11.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $17,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 196.0% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 24 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 136.4% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GWW. Barclays increased 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 note on Friday, November 7th. 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 report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,045.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,045.75.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In related news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,035,434.45. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155 in the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,079.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization 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, Inc. has a one year low of $893.99 and a one year high of $1,103.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,016.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $992.55. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 49.40%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

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

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.