Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 101,086 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,877 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Cabot were worth $9,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Cabot by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Cabot by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 50,221 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,614,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CBT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Cabot Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE CBT opened at $78.39 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Cabot Co. has a 12-month low of $75.51 and a 12-month high of $117.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.85 and a 200 day moving average of $97.31.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Cabot’s payout ratio is 22.84%.

About Cabot

Cabot Corporation operates as a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. The company operates through two segments, Reinforcement Materials and Performance Chemicals. It offers reinforcing carbons that are used in tires as a rubber reinforcing agent and performance additive, as well as in industrial products, such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles, and molded goods; and engineered elastomer composites solutions.