PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 736,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 20,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.31% of PPG Industries worth $110,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in PPG Industries by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 71,209 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,243,000 after purchasing an additional 7,886 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.7% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 115,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,949,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in PPG Industries by 3.3% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 106,880 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,873,000 after buying an additional 3,437 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 3.2% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 52,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,789,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 14.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 195,243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,343,000 after acquiring an additional 23,991 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PPG shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $132.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $138.16 and a 200 day moving average of $138.89. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.32 and a 12-month high of $152.89. The stock has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 43.92%.

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.