PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Position Trimmed by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,222 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,222 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $107,850,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of 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% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,552,100,000 after buying an additional 491,774 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 485,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,757,000 after buying an additional 354,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPG has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of PPG stock opened at $113.65 on Monday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.15 and a 12 month high of $145.61. The firm has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.36 and a 200-day moving average of $122.26. 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 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 return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. On average, equities analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.