Swiss National Bank Sells 600 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Ashland were worth $8,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ASH. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 193.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 610.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 133.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the second quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 8,211.1% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.29.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $79.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.88. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.04 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.05.

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

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ashland Company 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.