Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 220,152 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,356,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 220,152 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $400,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,757,000 after acquiring an additional 354,740 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in PPG Industries by 12.7% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,232 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 11.1% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,432 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $587,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $355,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Trading Up 1.9 %

PPG stock opened at $109.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $105.64 and a twelve month high of $145.61. The company has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.16 and a 200-day moving average of $121.05.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.