Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lessened its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,474,238,000 after purchasing an additional 999,164 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,799,196,000 after purchasing an additional 58,463 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,921,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $573,538,000 after purchasing an additional 53,487 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.5% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,524,367 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $454,917,000 after buying an additional 238,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,421,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $542,387,000 after buying an additional 15,843 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SHW. Mizuho reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.25.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHW opened at $361.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $282.09 and a 52 week high of $400.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $363.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $360.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.45% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.