Pacer Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 6,127.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 880,459 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 866,320 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 1.80% of Ashland worth $76,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ASH. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Ashland in the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 4.2% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 657,010 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $63,973,000 after purchasing an additional 26,245 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,613 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,397,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in Ashland in the 1st quarter worth approximately $352,000. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Ashland in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In related news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at $224,585.70. This trade represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ashland presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.29.

Ashland Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE ASH traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.05. 286,470 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 420,444. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.04 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The firm's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Ashland's payout ratio is currently 48.36%.

Ashland Profile

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.