The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Shares Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. cut its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 401 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SHW. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,180,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,229,386,000 after buying an additional 1,747,586 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,179,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $936,902,000 after acquiring an additional 73,605 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,998,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $796,108,000 after acquiring an additional 13,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $498,336,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,819,336 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $408,929,000 after purchasing an additional 174,384 shares in the last quarter. 75.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW traded up $2.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $267.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 139,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,464. The company has a market capitalization of $68.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $252.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.93. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $205.43 and a 52-week high of $283.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.43. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.50% and a return on equity of 78.92%. The company had revenue of $6.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.605 per share. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, CEO John G. Morikis bought 2,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $237.60 per share, for a total transaction of $504,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 317,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,383,352. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $224.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.44.

About Sherwin-Williams

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: The Americas Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group. The Americas Group segment offers architectural paints and coatings, and protective and marine products, as well as OEM product finishes and related products for architectural and industrial paint contractors, and do-it-yourself homeowners.