Assetmark Inc. Purchases 464 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 610.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $47,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Ashland by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,773,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,037,000 after buying an additional 86,977 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,314,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $218,686,000 after buying an additional 198,913 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% in 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 buying an additional 103,517 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 671,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,492,000 after buying an additional 14,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 581,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,918,000 after buying an additional 13,577 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ashland

In other news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,585.70. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.57.

Ashland Price Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $77.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $102.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The company had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Ashland’s payout ratio is 48.36%.

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.