ING Groep NV Sells 70,571 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

ING Groep NV cut its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 70.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,631 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 70,571 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $3,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PPG. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,552,100,000 after purchasing an additional 491,774 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,189,095,000 after purchasing an additional 485,597 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 68.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,757,000 after purchasing an additional 354,740 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 189.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 426,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,538,000 after purchasing an additional 279,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 65.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 523,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,474,000 after purchasing an additional 206,853 shares during the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE 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 company has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.25. PPG Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.20 and a fifty-two week high of $145.60.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PPG shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.15.

PPG Industries Company Profile

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.