Empirical Finance LLC Decreases Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,080 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, First Interstate Bank raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 1,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.00.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $360.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $282.09 and a twelve month high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $356.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.61.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.