Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Has $84.96 Million Stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 249,926 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,771 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams accounts for 1.4% of Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT owned approximately 0.10% of Sherwin-Williams worth $84,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 18.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,482,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,474,238,000 after purchasing an additional 999,164 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 40,317.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 726,705 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $277,361,000 after purchasing an additional 724,907 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 1,717.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 326,903 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $124,769,000 after buying an additional 308,921 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 542.0% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 339,707 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,477,000 after purchasing an additional 286,791 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 864,558 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $293,889,000 after buying an additional 278,242 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sherwin-Williams Stock Performance

Shares of SHW opened at $349.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $88.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.22. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 1 year low of $282.09 and a 1 year high of $400.42. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $351.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $365.20.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Sherwin-Williams Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Sherwin-Williams’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Sherwin-Williams’s payout ratio is 27.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SHW. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $438.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $450.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mary L. Garceau sold 15,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.92, for a total transaction of $6,275,198.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,621,253.60. This trade represents a 35.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.