Swiss National Bank Sells 37,400 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 659,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 37,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of PPG Industries worth $78,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,000. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 81,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,557 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 256.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 23,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,838,000 after buying an additional 17,090 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE PPG opened at $113.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.15 and a 1-year high of $145.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $116.36 and a 200-day moving average of $122.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.