Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,693 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after buying an additional 4,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $362.54 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $351.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.84. The company has a market cap of $91.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is 29.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 target price (up from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.