Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 13.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 355,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 41,554 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.65% of Cabot worth $39,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Cabot by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Cabot by 2.1% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 75.4% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 19,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 8,187 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cabot during the second quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Cabot by 1,295.9% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 26,899 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,472,000 after acquiring an additional 24,972 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of CBT opened at $88.50 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $104.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.08. Cabot Co. has a 52 week low of $70.63 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is 25.52%.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In other Cabot news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,571.08. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.00.

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.