Axa S.A. Lowers Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Axa S.A. decreased its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 26.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,269 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 34,904 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $29,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the fourth quarter worth $360,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $787,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,533 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 259.1% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 6,998 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 24.1% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $384.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.37 billion, a PE ratio of 40.94, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $357.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $329.14. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52-week low of $232.06 and a 52-week high of $385.23.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 75.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up previously from $386.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $338.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sherwin-Williams news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total transaction of $5,326,371.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,301,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.