State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 1,200 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 65,656 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $22,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,474,238,000 after acquiring an additional 999,164 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,799,196,000 after purchasing an additional 58,463 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,171,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $738,261,000 after purchasing an additional 114,591 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,724,746 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $586,293,000 after purchasing an additional 187,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,421,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $542,387,000 after buying an additional 15,843 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $403.31.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $355.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $351.67 and a 200 day moving average of $365.87. The company has a market capitalization of $89.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 2.98 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 current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Sherwin-Williams 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.