Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 6,027 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,027 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $12,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 196.0% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 24 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 136.4% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Tobam lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tobam now owns 40 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 7.1%

GWW stock opened at $1,117.30 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,056.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,000.83. 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 fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,218.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.02). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GWW shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Three equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,060.13.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the business’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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155 over the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.