State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 6,448 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 72,437 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,448 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $8,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPG. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 465.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPG. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG opened at $119.26 on Wednesday. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.20 and a 1-year high of $145.60. The stock has a market cap of $27.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. As a group, analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.96 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

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.