Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Purchased by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 165.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,455 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Cabot were worth $506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Cabot by 103.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,699,000 after purchasing an additional 57,907 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cabot in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $654,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cabot by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 40,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,688,000 after buying an additional 6,950 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Cabot in the third quarter worth $609,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,363,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $309,063,000 after purchasing an additional 80,096 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,571.08. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total transaction of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,865,099.25. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Cabot Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE CBT traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $92.55. The stock had a trading volume of 127,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 297,154. The business's fifty day moving average price is $99.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.21. Cabot Co. has a 52-week low of $70.63 and a 52-week high of $117.46. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. Cabot's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Cabot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CBT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Cabot from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.00.

About Cabot

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.