Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Purchased by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 6,127.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,574,000 after buying an additional 866,320 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Ashland by 12.3% during 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 buying an additional 284,215 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 2,060.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 179,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,802,000 after buying an additional 170,859 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 703.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 184,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,206,000 after buying an additional 161,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 205,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,614,000 after buying an additional 88,425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Guillermo Novo bought 31,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.24 per share, for a total transaction of $2,010,326.56. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,010,326.56. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total value of $35,209.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,188.74. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ASH. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ashland from $81.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ashland from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.57.

Ashland Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $64.93 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $68.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -98.37, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.86. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.60 and a 1-year high of $102.50.

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

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -245.45%.

Ashland Profile

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.