Grandfield & Dodd LLC Grows Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $15,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,552,100,000 after purchasing an additional 491,774 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,189,095,000 after buying an additional 485,597 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in PPG Industries by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,757,000 after buying an additional 354,740 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 523,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,474,000 after acquiring an additional 206,853 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,142,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $151,276,000 after acquiring an additional 198,353 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPG opened at $112.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.20 and a 1-year high of $145.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results 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%. Research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

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.