Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 332 Shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,369 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Innospec were worth $3,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IOSP. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Innospec by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Innospec by 82.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Innospec by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Innospec by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Innospec during the 3rd quarter worth $215,000. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Innospec Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ IOSP opened at $95.65 on Thursday. Innospec Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.22 and a 12 month high of $133.71. The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.36 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.26.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $466.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.43 million. Innospec had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 12.27%. Sell-side analysts expect that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Innospec declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity at Innospec

In related news, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total value of $61,629.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,736.06. This represents a 6.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 652 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $67,351.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,376 shares in the company, valued at $865,240.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Innospec Company Profile

Innospec Inc develops, manufactures, blends, markets, and supplies specialty chemicals in the United States, rest of North America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company's Fuel Specialties segment offers a range of specialty chemical products that are used as additives in additives in diesel, jet, marine, fuel oil and other fuels.