5,838 Shares in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,838 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cabot by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,521,000 after purchasing an additional 135,119 shares during the period. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new stake in Cabot in the 4th quarter worth about $6,228,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Cabot by 103.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,699,000 after buying an additional 57,907 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cabot during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,057,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 355,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,716,000 after acquiring an additional 41,554 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Price Performance

CBT opened at $84.00 on Wednesday. Cabot Co. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $117.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $86.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.51. The company has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. On average, analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

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.