Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Sells 10,844 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lessened its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 75.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,485 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 10,844 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PPG shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE PPG opened at $129.00 on Wednesday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $138.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.97.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

PPG Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.