Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 33.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,593 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.08% of Cabot worth $3,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CBT. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Cabot by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 564 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cabot by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 62,116 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,943,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Cabot by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 50,221 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $5,614,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE:CBT traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.56. 629,703 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 433,889. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.19. Cabot Co. has a 52-week low of $81.24 and a 52-week high of $117.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company's 50 day moving average price is $89.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.04.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cabot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.00.

Cabot Company 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.