Intech Investment Management LLC Has $540,000 Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 43.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,859 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ashland by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,022,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,074,000 after buying an additional 142,121 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 827,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,316 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 702,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,205,000 after acquiring an additional 26,267 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Ashland by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,964,000 after acquiring an additional 7,709 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ashland during the 4th quarter valued at $28,943,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ASH stock opened at $57.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -86.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.89. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.86 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.29.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.51). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -245.45%.

Insider Transactions at Ashland

In other news, CEO Guillermo Novo acquired 31,294 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.24 per share, for a total transaction of $2,010,326.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,010,326.56. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ASH. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ashland from $81.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ashland from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.00.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.