Atom Investors LP Sells 7,364 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Atom Investors LP decreased its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 25.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,638 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,364 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams makes up 0.9% of Atom Investors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $8,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 999,164 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,921,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $573,538,000 after acquiring an additional 53,487 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 132.8% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,609,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $480,291,000 after acquiring an additional 917,979 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,524,367 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $454,917,000 after acquiring an additional 238,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,421,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $542,387,000 after acquiring an additional 15,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW stock opened at $397.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $100.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $378.94 and its 200 day moving average is $347.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $272.34 and a 52-week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 28.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. The trade was a 28.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on SHW shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.47.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.