Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 536,418 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 94.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,135 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 536,418 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $10,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zelman & Associates raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $380.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $385.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $393.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In related news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,009.50. The trade was a 34.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $329.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $282.09 and a 1 year high of $400.42. The company has a market cap of $82.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $347.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $360.67.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.95%.

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.