Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,719 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.34% of Cabot worth $143,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CBT. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cabot in the third quarter worth about $25,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 60.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 53.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 197.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 33.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cabot from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cabot presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.00.

Cabot Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:CBT traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.09. 394,690 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 345,591. The firm's fifty day moving average is $109.86 and its 200-day moving average is $103.32. Cabot Co. has a 12-month low of $70.63 and a 12-month high of $117.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 26.60%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Cabot's payout ratio is 25.52%.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cabot news, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,571.08. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total value of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,865,099.25. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Cabot Profile

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.