Blue Trust Inc. Sells 770 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 32.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,598 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 770 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $44,676,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on SHW shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates raised Sherwin-Williams to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $400.00.

Insider Activity

In other Sherwin-Williams news, 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 owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. The trade was a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of SHW stock traded down $5.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $344.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,871,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,656,506. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a one year low of $282.09 and a one year high of $400.42. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $351.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $365.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.11%.

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.