Bank of America Corp DE Sells 22,944 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Key Points

• Bank of America reduced its Ashland stake by 4.9%, selling 22,944 shares and retaining 445,596 shares valued at approximately $24.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.95% of Ashland’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with seven Buy ratings and five Holds. Ashland has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.90.
• Ashland shares opened at $74.18, near their 52-week high of $78.25, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equivalent to a 2.3% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE cut its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 445,596 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 22,944 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.97% of Ashland worth $24,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,215 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in Ashland by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 11,039 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ashland by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,457 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Ashland from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ashland from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ashland from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Ashland from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.90.

Ashland Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:ASH opened at $74.18 on Tuesday. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.29 and a fifty-two week high of $78.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 3.05.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Ashland's dividend payout ratio is 147.37%.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.

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