PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 385,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 24,632 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of PPG Industries worth $46,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PPG shares. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Argus downgraded PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.15.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG opened at $108.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.92. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.64 and a 52-week high of $143.98. The company has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

PPG Industries Profile

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.