Marshall Wace LLP Acquires 56,640 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 50.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 168,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,640 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $20,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PPG. PUREfi Wealth LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $868,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,050,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,508,210,000 after purchasing an additional 756,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in PPG Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,944,000. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PPG shares. StockNews.com cut PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG opened at $100.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.24 and a 12 month high of $137.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.95.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 6.41%. On average, research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 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.