Welch & Forbes LLC Has $500,000 Stock Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,189 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC raised its position in PPG Industries by 1.1% during the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 8,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,666 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 1.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 7,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,288 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $115.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $116.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.77. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.15 and a 1-year high of $145.61. The company has a market cap of $26.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

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

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.