PUREfi Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 4,544 Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

PUREfi Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,544 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ASH. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 105.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 119,135 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,513,000 after purchasing an additional 61,058 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,134,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 120,741 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,501,000 after acquiring an additional 70,145 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 169,618 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $14,752,000 after acquiring an additional 67,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 703.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 184,806 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,206,000 after acquiring an additional 161,812 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ashland from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $81.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ashland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,107,188.74. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Guillermo Novo acquired 31,294 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.24 per share, with a total value of $2,010,326.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares in the company, valued at $2,010,326.56. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company's stock.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH stock traded down $1.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 782,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,094. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.52. The firm's 50-day moving average is $69.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.79. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -99.97, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.86. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.60 and a 1-year high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.51). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Ashland's dividend payout ratio is -245.45%.

About Ashland

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.