PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. decreased its position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,113 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,851 shares during the quarter. PPG Industries makes up about 1.4% of Machina Capital S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 588.5% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PPG. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on PPG Industries from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note 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, PPG Industries presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG Industries stock traded up $1.17 on Tuesday, hitting $134.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,127,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,875. The stock has a market cap of $31.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $137.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.08.

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

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PPG Industries Company 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.