Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Takes $11.28 Million Position in Sasol Ltd. $SSL

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 870,698 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,284,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.13% of Sasol at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SSL. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Sasol by 166.6% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 61,308 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 38,312 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sasol by 48.9% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,115 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 2,992 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Sasol during the first quarter worth $8,015,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Sasol by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 30,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sasol in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. 1.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sasol Stock Up 0.8%

SSL stock opened at $9.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Sasol Ltd. has a 12 month low of $4.77 and a 12 month high of $14.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sarushen Dhanapalan Pillay sold 2,182 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $28,671.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,352.82. This trade represents a 11.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Investec initiated coverage on shares of Sasol in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sasol from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sasol from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group raised shares of Sasol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Sasol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sasol currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

About Sasol

Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company’s core operations encompass the conversion of natural gas, coal and heavy hydrocarbons into liquid fuels and a wide array of chemical products. Sasol leverages proprietary Fischer-Tropsch and gas-to-liquids (GTL) technologies to deliver cleaner-burning diesel, jet fuel and naphtha, alongside solvents, surfactants and specialty polymers for industrial and consumer applications.

In addition to its GTL business, Sasol operates downstream facilities for the manufacture of alpha olefins, ethylene, propylene and other base-chemical intermediates.