BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $3.39 Million Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,310 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,837 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Cabot were worth $3,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CBT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Cabot by 571.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 127,116 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,681,000 after acquiring an additional 108,197 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Cabot by 24.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,240 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,881,000 after acquiring an additional 8,175 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Cabot by 2.4% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,363,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $309,063,000 after acquiring an additional 80,096 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Cabot by 1,295.9% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 26,899 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after acquiring an additional 24,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Cabot by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $79,070,000 after acquiring an additional 19,215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cabot

In related news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total value of $4,005,279.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,627 shares in the company, valued at $5,833,749.21. The trade was a 40.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total transaction of $96,655.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,571.08. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of Cabot stock opened at $103.70 on Friday. Cabot Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.63 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $111.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.15.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 26.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

About Cabot

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.