PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Bought by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,287,925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,767 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $192,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 11,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 358,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,512,000 after purchasing an additional 35,571 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 28,345 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 9,384 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 137.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,224,000 after purchasing an additional 20,226 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its position in PPG Industries by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish bought 2,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. KeyCorp cut their price target on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

PPG stock traded down $2.47 on Friday, hitting $127.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,156,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,689. The stock has a market cap of $29.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.32 and a 1 year high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

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.