Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 10,524 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company $SHW

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,127 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 10,524 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $5,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,296,565,000. Viking Global Investors LP grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 101.4% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 1,957,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $672,213,000 after purchasing an additional 985,520 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 4,029.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 621,532 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $213,410,000 after purchasing an additional 606,482 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 55.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,665,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $587,047,000 after purchasing an additional 596,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 22.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,039,306 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,043,595,000 after buying an additional 553,275 shares during the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $378.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Vertical Research upgraded Sherwin-Williams from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $371.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $410.00 price objective on Sherwin-Williams and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $386.33.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:SHW opened at $368.74 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 52 week low of $308.84 and a 52 week high of $379.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $342.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $345.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $91.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, insider Colin M. Davie sold 2,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.50, for a total transaction of $1,069,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,928,717.50. This trade represents a 35.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sherwin-Williams Company 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.