Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Has $8.51 Million Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 105.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 119,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,058 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $8,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 193.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Ashland in the third quarter worth $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Ashland during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 610.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,188.74. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.00.

Ashland Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE ASH traded down $1.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.56. The company had a trading volume of 80,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 422,119. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.45. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.55 and a 12 month high of $102.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.87. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.36%.

About Ashland

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.