Centiva Capital LP Sells 1,919 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Centiva Capital LP trimmed its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 37.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,919 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP’s holdings in Ashland were worth $273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 62,666.7% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 3,760 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in Ashland in the third quarter worth approximately $518,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,134,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 152,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,266,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other Ashland news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,188.74. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.00.

Ashland Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:ASH opened at $74.94 on Thursday. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.75 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.66 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. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Ashland’s payout ratio is 48.36%.

Ashland 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.