Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Lowers Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. reduced its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,970 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $16,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Colony Group LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 3.0% in the second quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.0% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 12,009 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PPG. Citigroup reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Vertical Research upgraded PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $173.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE:PPG opened at $134.43 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.32 and a 1 year high of $152.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.04. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 6.96%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. PPG Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.69%.

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.