Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 600 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $4,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SHW. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter worth about $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,621,253.60. This trade represents a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total value of $971,185.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.00.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $355.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $354.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $365.19. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 74.50%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Profile

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.