Strategy Asset Managers LLC Reduces Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lowered its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,126 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPG Industries Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PPG stock opened at $107.32 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.64 and a 12-month high of $145.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $115.37 and its 200 day moving average is $121.20.

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

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PPG shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.15.

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 that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.