Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Sold by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,387 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 59,942 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.40% of Ashland worth $13,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Ashland in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Ashland by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 84.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 994 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in Ashland by 302.4% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,489 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Ashland in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $127,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Ashland from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ashland from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ashland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on Ashland in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.60.

Ashland Stock Up 2.8%

ASH stock traded up $1.36 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.66. 149,634 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 539,168. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.83, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.11). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. The firm had revenue of $479.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $514.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Ashland's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Ashland's payout ratio is -69.17%.

Ashland Company Profile

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.