Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 553,291 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 79.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 139,293 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 553,291 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $47,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 48,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,608,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.00.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

NYSE:SHW opened at $361.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42. The stock has a market cap of $91.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $353.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $365.12.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. The trade was a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.