Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 6,545 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 105,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,545 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $111,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Wolfe Research lowered W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. William Blair upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,130.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,205,523.20. The trade was a 10.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $923.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $874.98 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,009.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,076.14. The stock has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.20.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 21.18%.

W.W. Grainger Profile

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.