Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Buys Shares of 67,866 Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 67,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,228,000. Cabot accounts for approximately 2.2% of Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in Cabot in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cabot in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 53.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 197.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Cabot by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 564 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cabot

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

Cabot Stock Up 0.2 %

CBT opened at $86.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.70.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CBT. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

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.