W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest of late.
At the moment, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to analyze the equity markets. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outclass the market by a significant margin (see just how much).
Just as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of stimuli for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a gander at the latest action encompassing W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW).
What does the smart money think about W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)?
At year’s end, a total of 24 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 60% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Generation Investment Management, managed by David Blood and Al Gore, holds the largest position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW). Generation Investment Management has a $210 million position in the stock, comprising 4.9% of its 13F portfolio. On Generation Investment Management’s heels is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $71 million position; 4.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have jumped into W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) headfirst. Generation Investment Management, managed by David Blood and Al Gore, established the largest position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW). Generation Investment Management had 210 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also initiated a $37 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new GWW positions are Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, and Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital.
Insider trading activity in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by our strategies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) is no exception.
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