Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 911 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Cabot were worth $1,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the third quarter worth $19,643,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,521,000 after acquiring an additional 135,119 shares in the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new stake in Cabot in the fourth quarter valued at $6,228,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 103.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,699,000 after buying an additional 57,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Cabot by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 355,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,716,000 after acquiring an additional 41,554 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Cabot Price Performance

NYSE CBT opened at $87.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.19. Cabot Co. has a 12-month low of $82.27 and a 12-month high of $117.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.