Wells Fargo & Company MN Reduces Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Wells Fargo & Company MN cut its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,553,265 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 238,354 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 1.53% of PPG Industries worth $424,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in PPG Industries by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,508,210,000 after buying an additional 756,937 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,552,100,000 after acquiring an additional 491,774 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,567,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,262,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590,041 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,546,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $660,752,000 after purchasing an additional 93,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,535,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PPG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.77.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $98.98 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $113.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.54. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $97.49 and a 52 week high of $142.30. The stock has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. Analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Profile

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.