Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) SVP Sells $67,617.20 in Stock

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $77.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $102.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $84.82 and its 200 day moving average is $90.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ASH. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Ashland by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,773,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,037,000 after acquiring an additional 86,977 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ashland by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,598,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000,000 after purchasing an additional 284,215 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 9.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,806,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $175,864,000 after buying an additional 149,483 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,737,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,131,000 after acquiring an additional 103,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 6,127.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,574,000 after purchasing an additional 866,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

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.