Point72 Asset Management L.P. Purchases Shares of 6,695 Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $748,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 107.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 21,040 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,346,000 after buying an additional 10,888 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in Cabot by 987.0% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,261 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Cabot in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 122,820 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $13,728,000 after purchasing an additional 20,273 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company's stock.

Cabot Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE CBT traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $104.09. The company had a trading volume of 244,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,620. Cabot Co. has a 1-year low of $70.63 and a 1-year high of $117.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.39 and a 200 day moving average of $103.28. 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 (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 26.60%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Cabot news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,833,749.21. This trade represents a 40.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total value of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,865,099.25. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.