PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV cut its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 70.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,631 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 70,571 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $3,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 465.1% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. This represents a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PPG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of PPG opened at $114.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $118.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $110.20 and a one year high of $145.60.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its 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 net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. Equities research analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. 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.