ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 172,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 5,092 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $174,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during 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 grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 314.3% during 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 shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 650.0% during 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. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,265.63 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,137.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,072.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $906.52 and a twelve month high of $1,286.56. The stock has a market cap of $59.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $2.49 per share. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GWW. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,199.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total value of $385,518.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $491,444.31. This represents a 43.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total transaction of $1,658,048.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,745,625.48. The trade was a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.