First Eagle Investment Management LLC Acquires 31,200 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 156,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 31,200 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 0.33% of Ashland worth $11,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 12.3% during 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 buying an additional 284,215 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,022,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,074,000 after purchasing an additional 142,121 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 0.3% in the third 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $50,205,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Ashland by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,964,000 after purchasing an additional 7,709 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASH. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $81.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Ashland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.00.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH opened at $57.03 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.29 and a 12 month high of $102.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.40, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Ashland’s payout ratio is -245.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other news, CEO Guillermo Novo purchased 31,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.24 per share, for a total transaction of $2,010,326.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares in the company, valued at $2,010,326.56. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.