Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 206,853 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 65.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 523,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 206,853 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.23% of PPG Industries worth $62,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in PPG Industries by 465.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company's stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock opened at $117.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company's 50-day moving average is $121.66 and its 200-day moving average is $124.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.00 and a 1 year high of $145.86.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $155.00 target price (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $149.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,513.20. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries Company 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.

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