PUREfi Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 4,544 Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 9.5% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 850.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 118,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,282,000 after acquiring an additional 18,449 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,737,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $151,131,000 after acquiring an additional 103,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 59.3% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,128 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASH shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ashland from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ashland from $81.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.57.

Ashland Stock Down 0.1 %

ASH stock opened at $64.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -98.36, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.60 and a 12 month high of $102.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.53.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.51). Ashland had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Ashland’s payout ratio is -245.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other news, CEO Guillermo Novo purchased 31,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.24 per share, for a total transaction of $2,010,326.56. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,010,326.56. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,188.74. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.