Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 2,700,018 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG - Free Report) by 815.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,031,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,700,018 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.31% of PPG Industries worth $362,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in PPG Industries by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 3,497 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 92,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,055,000 after purchasing an additional 15,187 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 15,470 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,847,000 after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in PPG Industries by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 16,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,929,000 after buying an additional 7,309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.86% of the company's stock.

PPG Industries Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:PPG traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $109.17. The stock had a trading volume of 857,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,386. The business's 50 day moving average is $107.14 and its 200-day moving average is $116.66. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $90.24 and a one year high of $137.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.67 billion. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. PPG Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on PPG shares. Argus downgraded PPG Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $126.00 price target (down previously from $143.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered PPG Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $135.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.25.

PPG Industries Company 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.