American Century Companies Inc. Has $72.24 Million Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 171.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 604,758 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 382,366 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.26% of PPG Industries worth $72,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in PPG Industries by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $381,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,895 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $107,850,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,071,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in PPG Industries by 5.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,189,095,000 after purchasing an additional 485,597 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $111.55 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.52. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.15 and a 12-month high of $145.61. The stock has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. Analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

About PPG Industries

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.