Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,363 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 333 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $9,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the fourth quarter worth $1,359,747,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 41,717.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,636,304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $571,381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632,391 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,998,647 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,019,329,000 after purchasing an additional 960,724 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,073,533 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $704,855,000 after buying an additional 728,798 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,725,827 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $926,590,000 after acquiring an additional 595,586 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SHW shares. Barclays reduced 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 research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $289.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $405.00 to $385.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.94.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $338.95 on Wednesday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1-year low of $308.84 and a 1-year high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $84.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $350.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $347.98.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 71.86%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.