Amundi Sells 130,794 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Amundi cut its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,796,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 130,794 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $606,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SHW. FMR LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 999,164 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $230,829,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 41,520.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 479,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $162,987,000 after purchasing an additional 478,320 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1,717.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 326,903 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $124,769,000 after acquiring an additional 308,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,477,000 after acquiring an additional 286,791 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.1 %

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $363.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.86. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of Sherwin-Williams 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price target on Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $403.31.

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.