Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 32.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,383 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,645 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 1.1% in the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 8,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,666 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 1.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 7,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PPG Industries by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,288 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG opened at $113.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $116.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.15 and a 1 year high of $145.61.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus cut shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp cut shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.15.

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.