New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,251 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 7,955 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of PPG Industries worth $32,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,180,199 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,645,019,000 after purchasing an additional 252,358 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,854,892 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $647,037,000 after acquiring an additional 106,294 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 163,082.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,157,889 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $522,813,000 after acquiring an additional 4,155,341 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $427,580,000 after acquiring an additional 959,849 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193,621 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $418,589,000 after acquiring an additional 65,996 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPG traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $139.91. 1,347,395 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,729,319. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company's 50 day moving average is $141.14 and its 200 day moving average is $138.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.04. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PPG. Vertical Research raised PPG Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays downgraded PPG Industries from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $149.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PPG Industries from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $157.13.

PPG Industries Profile

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.