Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $3.34 Million Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW - Free Report) by 182.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,711 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,920 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $3,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 16.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 47,568 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,639 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,444,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 149.0% during the third quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 9,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,473,000 after acquiring an additional 5,801 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth about $4,517,000. Finally, Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at about $403,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $312.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $326.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total transaction of $529,653.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Justin T. Binns sold 1,563 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.87, for a total value of $529,653.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,935,302.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 23,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.66, for a total value of $7,588,317.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,743.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,050 shares of company stock worth $10,340,237 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 4.1 %

SHW traded down $13.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $320.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,563,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,399,602. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $327.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $81.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $221.76 and a 12-month high of $348.37.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.01. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 74.72%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Sherwin-Williams's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

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.