The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW Holdings Cut by Achmea Investment Management B.V.

Achmea Investment Management B.V. decreased its position in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,067 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 13,252 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $4,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.4% in the third 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. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 351,453 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,296,565,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,432,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,188,698,000 after acquiring an additional 11,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $1,056,811,000 after purchasing an additional 12,715 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total value of $1,069,872.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.47, for a total transaction of $915,913.11. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SHW shares. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $371.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group set a $420.00 target price on Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Friday, January 30th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.21.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 2.6%

Sherwin-Williams stock opened at $312.28 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $351.13 and a 200-day moving average of $343.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 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. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $308.84 and a twelve month high of $379.65.

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

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. 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 dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.16%.

Sherwin-Williams 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.