PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 385,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 24,632 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $46,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PPG. FMR LLC raised its stake in PPG Industries by 68.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,757,000 after purchasing an additional 354,740 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,232 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 11.1% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in PPG Industries by 83.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,432 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $355,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $108.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.92. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $105.64 and a 1-year high of $143.98.

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 return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. Analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Argus downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

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.