Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Has $390,000 Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,679,911,000 after purchasing an additional 40,992 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,208,610,000 after purchasing an additional 28,626 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,188,000 after purchasing an additional 42,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.1% during the third 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. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,120.63 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $868.53 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,126.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,056.43. The company has a market cap of $54.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.95 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,140.56.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This trade represents a 15.63 % 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. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total transaction of $778,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,634,643 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.