HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 10,888 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 107.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,040 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 10,888 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Cabot were worth $2,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 571.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 127,116 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,681,000 after acquiring an additional 108,197 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Cabot by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,240 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,881,000 after purchasing an additional 8,175 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,363,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $309,063,000 after purchasing an additional 80,096 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cabot by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $79,070,000 after buying an additional 19,215 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 1,295.9% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 26,899 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,472,000 after buying an additional 24,972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company's stock.

Cabot Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:CBT traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $103.38. The stock had a trading volume of 396,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,833. The business's 50 day moving average is $110.25 and its 200-day moving average is $103.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. Cabot Co. has a one year low of $70.63 and a one year high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 26.60%. Cabot's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.52%.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In related news, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,742 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,088,571.08. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total value of $4,005,279.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,833,749.21. This trade represents a 40.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.