Assetmark Inc. Sells 454 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Assetmark Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 45.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 454 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $32,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 212.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 2,736.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Ashland by 63.9% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 285.7% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Ashland by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on Ashland in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ashland from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.40.

Ashland Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of ASH opened at $52.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $91.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.49.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $463.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.34 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 6.82% and a negative net margin of 46.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Company 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.