Eastern Bank Has $664,000 Position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Eastern Bank reduced its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 24.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,767 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,488 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,303 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,009,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 62,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in PPG Industries by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 19,411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,328,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPG has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho reduced their target price on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.29.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG opened at $114.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $121.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.98. PPG Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.00 and a twelve month high of $145.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $26.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.02). PPG Industries had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 23.63%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.11%.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,513.20. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.