The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 99.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,850 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 724,855 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SHW. Park National Corp OH lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 6,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 5,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,913 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SHW. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.25.

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

SHW opened at $329.92 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $367.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $357.66. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $282.09 and a 52-week high of $400.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The company has a market cap of $83.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.22.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.49%.

About Sherwin-Williams

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.