Cresset Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Cresset Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 32.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 8,010 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Cabot were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cabot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,961,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cabot by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $69,521,000 after acquiring an additional 135,119 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Cabot by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,323,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $120,835,000 after purchasing an additional 103,380 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Cabot by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 451,513 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $41,228,000 after purchasing an additional 96,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 794,477 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $72,544,000 after acquiring an additional 87,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company's stock.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of CBT stock remained flat at $75.31 during trading hours on Thursday. 420,235 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 404,227. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.57. Cabot Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.64 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The stock has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.00, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.91.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $936.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. The company's revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CBT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cabot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Cabot from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th.

Cabot Company Profile

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.