USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 1,309 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

22 May 2025, 06:52 by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat Gem

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Free Report) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,309 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $7,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,330,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,618,812,000 after buying an additional 40,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,194,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,256,400,000 after acquiring an additional 27,716 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $718,769,000 after acquiring an additional 84,595 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 514,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $542,126,000 after acquiring an additional 115,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at about $535,910,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,205,523.20. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total transaction of $793,616.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $602,773.08. This trade represents a 56.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. cut their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,120.00.

Read Our Latest Research Report on GWW

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,081.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $51.93 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. 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 $1,008.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,065.16. 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 (NYSE:GWW – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.62 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 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 Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

(Free Report)