Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Cuts Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,139 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC's holdings in Cabot were worth $701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Cabot during the second quarter worth approximately $432,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cabot by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 5.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 913,259 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $83,919,000 after acquiring an additional 51,178 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cabot in the 2nd quarter worth $268,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cabot in the 2nd quarter valued at about $392,000. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CBT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Cabot from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.75.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of Cabot stock traded up $1.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $110.48. 149,464 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 339,825. The company has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.98. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $65.10 and a 12 month high of $113.12.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 26.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Cabot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $2,601,406.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,630,719.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $2,601,406.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,630,719.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 1,201 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.19, for a total transaction of $127,534.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 96,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,194,240. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,939 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,812. 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.