Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 95.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 260,000 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Ashland were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 33.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,260,333 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $184,624,000 after acquiring an additional 560,916 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 14.6% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,953,015 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $159,522,000 after acquiring an additional 248,591 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,671,593 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $140,932,000 after acquiring an additional 256,828 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 2.2% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,404,550 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,724,000 after acquiring an additional 29,907 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 689,517 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $58,133,000 after acquiring an additional 21,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ashland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ashland from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ashland from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH stock traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $97.02. 381,146 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 444,924. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.92. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $101.94. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $95.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.32. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $473.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.69 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 5.95%. The business's revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ashland

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.