Navellier & Associates Inc. Sells 1,578 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Navellier & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,578 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% in the third 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,189,095,000 after buying an additional 485,597 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,136,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $403,049,000 after buying an additional 170,339 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,571,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,654,000 after buying an additional 15,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,877,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $248,650,000 after buying an additional 36,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Trading Down 2.6 %

PPG opened at $114.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $118.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $110.20 and a one year high of $145.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 57.51%.

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.