Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 80.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% in the third quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 48,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,608,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 17,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,676,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,621,253.60. This represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.3 %

SHW stock opened at $360.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.68 billion, a PE ratio of 35.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $282.09 and a 12 month high of $400.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $361.60 and its 200 day moving average is $361.13.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.20 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $403.29.

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.