Millennium Management LLC Sells 59,942 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Millennium Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 190,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 59,942 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Ashland worth $13,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,928,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $352,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66,530 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 2,860,471 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,409,000 after purchasing an additional 212,916 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,818,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,423,000 after purchasing an additional 44,018 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 8.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 208,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Ashland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Ashland from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.60.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $50.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of -75.81, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.40 and its 200 day moving average is $63.97. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.21 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.52.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $479.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.79 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a $0.415 dividend. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Ashland’s payout ratio is -69.17%.

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.