State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 6,448 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,437 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,448 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $8,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PUREfi Wealth LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $868,000. Equity Investment Corp lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 7.0% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 649,301 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $86,006,000 after purchasing an additional 42,380 shares during the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth $4,050,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG opened at $119.26 on Wednesday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.20 and a fifty-two week high of $145.60. The stock has a market cap of $27.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.36.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho dropped their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.15.

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.