Jeff Ji Zhu Sells 14,566 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Stock

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total value of $1,649,599.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,865,099.25. This represents a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Jeff Ji Zhu also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 26th, Jeff Ji Zhu sold 1,201 shares of Cabot stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.19, for a total value of $127,534.19.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE:CBT traded down $1.75 on Thursday, hitting $109.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 340,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,444. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $109.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.20. Cabot Co. has a one year low of $70.63 and a one year high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 26.60%. Cabot’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CBT. Mizuho upped their target price on Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cabot presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cabot

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 19.8% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 122,820 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,728,000 after purchasing an additional 20,273 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 47.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 8.4% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 12.7% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 3,885 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 11.3% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 58,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

About Cabot

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.