Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Holdings Lifted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 703.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,812 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.39% of Ashland worth $13,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 6,127.2% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,574,000 after purchasing an additional 866,320 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Ashland by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,598,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000,000 after buying an additional 284,215 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 616.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 189,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,875,000 after buying an additional 162,776 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 407.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 139,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,202,000 after acquiring an additional 112,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,737,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,131,000 after acquiring an additional 103,517 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ASH shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Ashland Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of ASH stock opened at $71.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.36. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.14 and a twelve month high of $102.50. 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 capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.87.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The firm had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.