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

Atom Investors LP lessened its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 25.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,638 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 7,364 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams accounts for approximately 0.9% of Atom Investors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Atom Investors LP's holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $8,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 102.3% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SHW. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Shares of SHW stock traded down $1.82 on Monday, hitting $395.58. 1,386,861 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,643,859. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $378.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $347.31. The firm has a market cap of $99.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.17. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $278.45 and a 52 week high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.20 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Sherwin-Williams's payout ratio is currently 28.49%.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

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.