California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Holdings in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU)

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU - Free Report) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,524 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.08% of NewMarket worth $3,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NEU. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in NewMarket by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,647,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of NewMarket by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of NewMarket by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 1,561 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NewMarket by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 735 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NewMarket by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 48 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 61.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NewMarket

In other news, CAO Bruce R. Hazelgrove III sold 311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.43, for a total transaction of $199,795.73. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 358 shares of the company's stock, valued at $229,989.94. This represents a 46.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 19.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded NewMarket from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

NewMarket Stock Up 0.9%

NEU traded up $5.90 on Friday, hitting $644.93. The company had a trading volume of 526,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,889. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $604.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $555.50. NewMarket Co. has a 12-month low of $480.00 and a 12-month high of $653.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.41.

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $13.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. NewMarket had a return on equity of 35.48% and a net margin of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $700.95 million for the quarter.

NewMarket Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. NewMarket's payout ratio is 21.89%.

About NewMarket

NewMarket Corporation, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the manufacture and sale of petroleum additives. The company offers lubricant additives for use in various vehicle and industrial applications, including engine oils, transmission fluids, off-road powertrain and hydraulic systems, gear oils, hydraulic oils, turbine oils, and other applications where metal-to-metal moving parts are utilized; engine oil additives designed for passenger cars, motorcycles, on and off-road heavy duty commercial equipment, locomotives, and engines in ocean-going vessels; driveline additives designed for products, such as transmission fluids, axle fluids, and off-road powertrain fluids; and industrial additives designed for products for industrial applications consisting of hydraulic fluids, grease, industrial gear fluids, and industrial specialty applications, such as turbine oils.