Quarry LP Grows Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,926 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Quarry LP’s holdings in Ashland were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 105.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 119,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,513,000 after buying an additional 61,058 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Ashland by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,964,000 after buying an additional 7,709 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ashland by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 169,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,752,000 after buying an additional 67,980 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Ashland by 703.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 184,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,206,000 after buying an additional 161,812 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 171,636 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,265,000 after buying an additional 39,392 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ASH. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $69.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ashland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.20.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE ASH opened at $53.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.09. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.86, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.51). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Guillermo Novo purchased 31,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.24 per share, with a total value of $2,010,326.56. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,010,326.56. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.