Holocene Advisors LP Trims Stock Position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Holocene Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 66.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 278,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 560,768 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $106,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the third quarter valued at $32,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 87 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 102.3% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SHW. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $455.00 to $446.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In related 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of Sherwin-Williams stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This trade represents a 35.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

SHW stock opened at $397.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $100.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $378.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $347.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $272.34 and a 12-month high of $400.42.

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

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.49%.

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.