Key Points
- CFO Deidra Merriwether sold 1,488 shares on April 2 at an average price of $1,114.28 for about $1.66M, reducing her stake by 12.37% to 10,541 shares; the transaction was executed under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan.
- Grainger reported quarterly EPS of $9.45 (missed by $0.01) and revenue of $4.43B (up 4.5% YoY) and issued FY2026 guidance of 42.25–44.75 EPS, versus sell‑side consensus of roughly 40.3 EPS.
W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) CFO Deidra Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total transaction of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.0%
Shares of GWW opened at $1,118.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $893.99 and a one year high of $1,218.63. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $1,109.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,026.76.
W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.
W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.54%.
Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,462.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,081,554,000 after buying an additional 1,003,237 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at approximately $721,202,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $518,958,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 34,269.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 435,466 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 434,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,027,286 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,036,584,000 after acquiring an additional 389,589 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $1,096.71.
Read Our Latest Research Report on W.W. Grainger
W.W. Grainger Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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