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

Millennium Management LLC decreased its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 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 approximately 0.40% of Ashland worth $13,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 84.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 994 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 302.4% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,489 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $127,000. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on ASH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ashland from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Ashland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Ashland from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.60.

Ashland Trading Down 0.7%

Ashland stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.44. 86,744 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 538,816. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.21 and a 52-week high of $102.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.42, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $52.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.13.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $479.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $514.79 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a $0.415 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Ashland's payout ratio is presently -69.17%.

Ashland 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.