Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stock Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,241,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,104,368 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.88% of Sherwin-Williams worth $668,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,620,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,509,601,000 after purchasing an additional 184,979 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,840,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,197,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,351 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,536,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $791,008,000 after purchasing an additional 56,161 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 10.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,302,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $799,595,000 after acquiring an additional 219,149 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,820,266 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $567,740,000 after acquiring an additional 49,809 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at $23,301,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SHW. Redburn Atlantic raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $386.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $418.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.68.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE SHW opened at $379.14 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $348.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $327.03. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $232.06 and a twelve month high of $380.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The company has a market capitalization of $96.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.17.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.19. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 75.58% and a net margin of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $6.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 30.49%.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.