Savant Capital LLC Takes $344,000 Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,811 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ASH. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 610.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $81.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.57.

Ashland Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ASH stock traded down $0.50 on Friday, hitting $64.93. The stock had a trading volume of 612,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,083. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.60 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.81 and a 200 day moving average of $78.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -98.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.50%. Ashland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -245.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ashland news, CEO Guillermo Novo bought 31,294 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.24 per share, for a total transaction of $2,010,326.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,010,326.56. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,107,188.74. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.