PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,969,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 119,168 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.85% of PPG Industries worth $235,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PPG. PUREfi Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $868,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,050,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,508,210,000 after buying an additional 756,937 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $2,944,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PPG shares. StockNews.com downgraded PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $126.00 target price (down from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG traded up $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $101.84. 1,588,202 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,784,293. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.24 and a fifty-two week high of $137.24. The stock has a market cap of $23.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

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.