4,000,078 Shares in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,000,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,747,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 42,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,502,000 after buying an additional 3,740 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 13,536 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,601,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 99,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,931,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,032,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $690,796,000 after acquiring an additional 451,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 653,548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $219,945,000 after purchasing an additional 289,450 shares during the period. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. This trade represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $423.00 target price (up previously from $418.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:SHW opened at $344.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $86.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $354.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.21. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

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.