Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Purchased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 9.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,314,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 198,913 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 4.62% of Ashland worth $218,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 122.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 8,211.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ashland during the second quarter worth $71,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Ashland during the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 143.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ASH shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.50.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $87.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.82 and a 12 month high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 7.01%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.97%.

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.