Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 756,937 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 756,937 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.13% of PPG Industries worth $3,508,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in PPG Industries by 465.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPG Industries Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $111.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $115.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.15 and a 52-week high of $145.61.

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

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPG. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.15.

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.