Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 233 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd cut its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 39.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 233 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 360,026 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,841,000 after acquiring an additional 17,699 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 324,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $336,956,000 after purchasing an additional 12,805 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 3.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $295,714,000 after purchasing an additional 8,552 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 243,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 23.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 193,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $201,413,000 after purchasing an additional 36,892 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 19.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Loop Capital raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,109.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,216.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.15. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $772.13 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,102.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $999.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.