Strategy Asset Managers LLC Lowers Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lowered its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,126 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,666 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 7,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in PPG Industries by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,288 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 675 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $107.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.64 and a 12-month high of $145.61.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

About PPG Industries

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.