Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,563 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $871,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,474,238,000 after purchasing an additional 999,164 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at about $230,829,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 41,520.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 479,472 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $162,987,000 after buying an additional 478,320 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $115,477,000 after acquiring an additional 286,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 864,558 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $293,889,000 after acquiring an additional 278,242 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SHW. StockNews.com lowered Sherwin-Williams from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Berenberg Bank raised Sherwin-Williams from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $401.13.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total value of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHW traded down $5.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $339.77. 1,304,583 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,730,061. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $353.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $364.08. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. The firm has a market cap of $85.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.21, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.23.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Sherwin-Williams's dividend payout ratio is 29.95%.

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.