PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,264 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,294,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $427,580,000 after acquiring an additional 959,849 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 4,484.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 723,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,228,000 after purchasing an additional 707,903 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $74,492,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 869,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $112,845,000 after buying an additional 487,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in PPG Industries during the third quarter valued at about $60,006,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PPG shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.47.

PPG Industries Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded down $1.24 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.97. The company had a trading volume of 119,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,758,833. The company has a market cap of $31.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.32 and a fifty-two week high of $152.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $137.84 and its 200-day moving average is $139.15. 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 (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 22.98% and a net margin of 7.74%. PPG Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.92%.

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.