Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Stock Holdings Cut by State Street Corp

State Street Corp lessened its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,515,578 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 136,605 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 3.10% of Ashland worth $131,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASH. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter worth $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 193.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 610.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the second quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 8,211.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ASH. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.00.

Ashland Stock Up 0.9 %

Ashland stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $74.78. 587,823 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 421,853. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.95. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.83 and a 12 month high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The firm had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $524.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Ashland's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Ashland's payout ratio is 48.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total value of $35,209.57. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,107,188.74. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Ashland Company 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.