Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $1.44 Million Stock Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,311 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,577 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Cabot were worth $1,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Cabot during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Cabot by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cabot by 1,685.1% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE CBT opened at $84.01 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.38 and a 200-day moving average of $97.86. Cabot Co. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $117.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is 22.84%.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cabot has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.00.

Cabot Profile

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.