Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 676,294 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,313 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.38% of Ashland worth $58,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 2.2% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 3.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Ashland by 5.4% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 50,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,748,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at $224,585.70. This trade represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ashland Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ASH opened at $78.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.88. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.04 and a 12 month high of $102.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Ashland’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.29.

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.