Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Purchases Shares of 1,805 PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in PPG Industries by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,717,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,552,100,000 after buying an additional 491,774 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,977,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,189,095,000 after purchasing an additional 485,597 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in PPG Industries by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 873,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,757,000 after purchasing an additional 354,740 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in PPG Industries by 189.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 426,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,538,000 after purchasing an additional 279,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in PPG Industries by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 523,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,474,000 after purchasing an additional 206,853 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,513.20. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 price objective (down from $160.00) on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.23.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $120.14 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.00 and a 12-month high of $145.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $121.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.80. The company has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.24.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

About PPG Industries

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.