Centiva Capital LP Decreases Stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Centiva Capital LP lowered its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 58.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,414 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in Cabot were worth $434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Cabot by 60.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 338.2% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,683 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 9,017 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 571.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 127,116 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $11,681,000 after purchasing an additional 108,197 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CBT traded up $1.56 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $106.59. 358,030 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 346,053. The stock has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a PEG 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $70.63 and a twelve month high of $117.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.23.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Cabot's payout ratio is 25.52%.

Cabot announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Cabot from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cabot currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In other Cabot news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction dated 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 $7,865,099.25. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,088,571.08. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.