Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $226 Million Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,598,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 284,215 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 5.32% of Ashland worth $226,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 193.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 610.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ashland by 133.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 8,211.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $79.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.88. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.04 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.41.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Ashland’s payout ratio is 48.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on 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 cut their target price on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,585.70. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.