Atom Investors LP Invests $5.56 Million in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Atom Investors LP acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,555,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 211.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 314.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total transaction of $385,518.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $491,444.31. The trade was a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total value of $1,795,446.53. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,471.28. This represents a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $1,250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,217.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,322.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $62.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,220.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,121.38. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $906.52 and a 1-year high of $1,349.74.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.79%.

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.