Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 86,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,417 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ashland were worth $7,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Ashland by 338.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Ashland by 43.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Ashland in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASH. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.11.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH stock opened at $95.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 3.15. The stock has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.72. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $99.55.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $574.64 million. Ashland had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.