Legal & General Group Plc Trims Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,417 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.21% of Ashland worth $7,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,928,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $352,221,000 after buying an additional 66,530 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Ashland by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,806,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $200,583,000 after acquiring an additional 208,320 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Ashland by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,022,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,074,000 after purchasing an additional 142,121 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 827,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 702,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,205,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Price Performance

ASH stock opened at $50.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.20 and its 200 day moving average is $69.56. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.51). Ashland had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -245.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $60.00 target price on Ashland in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ashland from $69.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other Ashland news, CEO Guillermo Novo purchased 31,294 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.24 per share, with a total value of $2,010,326.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,010,326.56. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

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.