Raymond James & Associates Grows Stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,103 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Cabot were worth $3,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in Cabot by 176.0% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the third quarter valued at about $79,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 460.7% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 91.2% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,199 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the third quarter valued at about $162,000. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:CBT opened at $93.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. Cabot Co. has a one year low of $63.73 and a one year high of $98.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $958.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $927.28 million. Cabot had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 11.24%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cabot news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 55,233 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $4,413,669.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,201 shares in the company, valued at $7,767,331.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CBT shares. StockNews.com downgraded Cabot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Mizuho started coverage on Cabot in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $90.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.67.

Cabot Profile

Cabot Corporation operates as a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. The company operates through two segments, Reinforcement Materials and Performance Chemicals. It offers reinforcing carbons that are used in tires as a rubber reinforcing agent and performance additive, as well as in industrial products, such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles, and molded goods; and engineered elastomer composites solutions.