Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Buys New Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 67,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,228,000. Cabot makes up 2.2% of Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. owned about 0.12% of Cabot as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Cabot by 103.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the 3rd quarter worth about $654,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cabot by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 40,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,688,000 after purchasing an additional 6,950 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Cabot in the third quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Cabot by 165.5% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,455 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of CBT opened at $86.39 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.19. Cabot Co. has a 12-month low of $78.61 and a 12-month high of $117.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.84%.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CBT. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total transaction of $96,655.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,571.08. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total transaction of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,865,099.25. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cabot Company 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.