Wealth Alliance Trims Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Wealth Alliance decreased its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in PPG Industries by 11.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 358,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,512,000 after buying an additional 35,571 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 137.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,224,000 after purchasing an additional 20,226 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 2.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 6.4% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,883 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 217,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,582,000 after purchasing an additional 65,073 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Vertical Research upgraded PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on PPG Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered PPG Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down from $173.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

NYSE:PPG opened at $135.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.32 and a 1 year high of $152.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 6.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries 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.