Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 218,364 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 51.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,325 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 218,364 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Sherwin-Williams worth $70,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 99 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company's stock.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of SHW traded down $5.88 on Friday, hitting $339.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,304,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,730,061. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $353.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $363.86. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $282.09 and a fifty-two week high of $400.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23.

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Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams's payout ratio is 29.95%.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $401.13.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.