Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) SVP Sells $67,617.20 in Stock

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH stock opened at $76.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.50. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.04 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.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ashland by 3.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,773,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,037,000 after purchasing an additional 86,977 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 12.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,598,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000,000 after acquiring an additional 284,215 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,806,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $175,864,000 after acquiring an additional 149,483 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 6.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,737,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $151,131,000 after purchasing an additional 103,517 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ashland by 6,127.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,574,000 after buying an additional 866,320 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ASH shares. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.29.

Ashland Company 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.