Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Decreases Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC cut its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 5.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $6,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 537.5% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 51 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on GWW shares. Oppenheimer downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Baird R W raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,086.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. The trade was a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock worth $52,640,733. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GWW opened at $1,178.33 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $772.13 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,078.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $988.02. 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 company has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s 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.