Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 568,562 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,605,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 568,562 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.69% of PPG Industries worth $191,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $470,535,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,196,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $381,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,895 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $107,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,508,210,000 after purchasing an additional 756,937 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,071,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 35,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price 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. Argus cut shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Nine investment 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, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG Industries stock traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $110.03. 3,835,792 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,740,316. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $114.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $105.64 and a twelve month high of $143.98.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. Equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.