Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 28,512 Shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its position in Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Free Report) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 436,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 28,512 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.37% of Minerals Technologies worth $33,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MTX. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 181.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 506 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 536.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 732 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 43.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,478 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. 97.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

MTX traded up $0.53 on Friday, reaching $59.43. The company had a trading volume of 287,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 185,593. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.19. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.84. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.54 and a 52-week high of $90.30.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.02). Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $491.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $502.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Minerals Technologies's payout ratio is currently -57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Minerals Technologies

In other Minerals Technologies news, CFO Erik Aldag purchased 1,000 shares of Minerals Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $50.37 per share, for a total transaction of $50,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $213,820.65. The trade was a 30.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Minerals Technologies from $92.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications.