IFP Advisors Inc Acquires 409 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 186.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 628 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $75,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,552,100,000 after acquiring an additional 491,774 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 5.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,189,095,000 after acquiring an additional 485,597 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 68.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,757,000 after acquiring an additional 354,740 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 65.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 523,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,474,000 after acquiring an additional 206,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 21.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,142,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $151,276,000 after acquiring an additional 198,353 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of PPG Industries stock opened at $114.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $117.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.87. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.15 and a 1 year high of $145.61. The stock has a market cap of $25.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued 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 predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.