Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,644 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 18.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,065 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,644 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Cabot worth $3,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CBT. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in Cabot by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 833 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cabot by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 10,851 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cabot by 143.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cabot by 81.8% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 460 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Cabot by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 42,103 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,516,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of CBT stock traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $94.99. 320,340 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 360,644. Cabot Co. has a 12-month low of $64.51 and a 12-month high of $103.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.15.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.12. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.21% and a net margin of 11.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Cabot’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Cabot’s payout ratio is presently 21.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karen A. Kalita sold 13,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.73, for a total value of $1,400,211.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,490,559.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Cabot from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho raised their target price on Cabot from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cabot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.80.

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.