Sit Investment Associates Inc. Sells 34,760 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. reduced its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 99.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 34,760 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $42,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PPG. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 676.5% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 33,919 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,052,000 after acquiring an additional 29,551 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 261.6% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 140,641 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $16,800,000 after purchasing an additional 101,742 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $9,892,000. Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in PPG Industries by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 31,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,718,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,546,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $660,752,000 after buying an additional 93,455 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock traded up $2.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.75. 1,906,436 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,798,791. The firm's 50-day moving average is $110.83 and its 200 day moving average is $118.98. The company has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.24 and a 1 year high of $137.24. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. Equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PPG. Argus lowered PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp lowered PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $134.15.

About PPG Industries

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.