Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 782,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,831 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $270,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,637,705 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,838,532,000 after acquiring an additional 309,153 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,111,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,746,222,000 after purchasing an additional 90,482 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 9.9% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,887,808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,334,918,000 after purchasing an additional 351,453 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the second quarter worth $1,296,565,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,052,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,056,811,000 after purchasing an additional 12,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SHW shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $410.00 price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Vertical Research raised Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $371.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $378.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $390.00 price objective on Sherwin-Williams and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total transaction of $1,069,872.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,928,717.50. This represents a 35.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.47, for a total transaction of $915,913.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,661,101.15. The trade was a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $356.98 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $348.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.57. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a fifty-two week low of $308.84 and a fifty-two week high of $379.65. The firm has a market cap of $88.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.07. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 65.26% and a net margin of 10.90%.The company had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Sherwin-Williams’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

Sherwin-Williams Company Profile

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) is a global manufacturer and distributor of paints, coatings and related products. Founded in 1866 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company supplies a broad range of coatings for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Its product offering includes architectural paints and stains, industrial and protective coatings, automotive finishes, and a variety of sundry products such as primers, sealants and specialty treatments used by professionals and consumers.

The company sells through multiple channels, including a large network of company-operated retail paint stores that serve professional contractors and do-it-yourself consumers, as well as through distributors and mass retailers.