Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 11,974 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 85.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,969 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 11,974 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SHW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at about $374,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,445 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 17,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,783,000 after purchasing an additional 3,462 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SHW. Mizuho set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $420.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $380.00 price objective (down from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $391.31.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of SHW traded down $2.36 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $350.16. 1,088,732 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,713,331. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $350.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $348.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $87.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.18. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $293.56 and a 12-month high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 71.86%. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Sherwin-Williams's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.87%.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.