XTX Topco Ltd Buys 1,369 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $2,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SHW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,836,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,422,932,000 after buying an additional 138,170 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,588,755 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,239,715,000 after purchasing an additional 106,093 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,829,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,636,679,000 after purchasing an additional 96,571 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,316,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,467,138,000 after purchasing an additional 86,268 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,359,747,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,799 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.30, for a total transaction of $1,008,479.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,009.50. This represents a 34.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW opened at $337.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $84.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $347.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $360.20. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $282.09 and a 1 year high of $400.42.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.02. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 74.50% and a net margin of 11.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $435.00 to $408.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (down previously from $423.00) on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $423.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $393.31.

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.