Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Decreases Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC cut its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 75.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,485 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 10,844 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in PPG Industries were worth $521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PPG. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in PPG Industries by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.0% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Trading Up 1.5 %

PPG stock traded up $1.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $130.98. 2,084,889 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,785,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $138.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.91.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries's payout ratio is presently 43.92%.

Insider Transactions at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PPG Industries from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $155.47.

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.