The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 47 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,422,932,000 after acquiring an additional 138,170 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,799,196,000 after buying an additional 58,463 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,171,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $738,261,000 after buying an additional 114,591 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,032,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $690,796,000 after buying an additional 451,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,724,746 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $586,293,000 after acquiring an additional 187,724 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SHW. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $423.00 price objective (up previously from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price objective on Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $339.77 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $353.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $363.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $282.09 and a 1 year high of $400.42. The company has a market capitalization of $85.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.95%.

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.