The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Stake Lowered by Means Investment CO. Inc.

Means Investment CO. Inc. decreased its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 841 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Tamar Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% during the third quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 48,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,608,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total value of $6,275,198.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This trade represents a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $358.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $359.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $363.60.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.65.

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.