Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by AlphaMark Advisors LLC

AlphaMark Advisors LLC cut its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,875 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 9,108.7% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,440,000 after acquiring an additional 568,563 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after purchasing an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 264,756 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 7,667.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $155,000,000 after purchasing an additional 161,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 28.7% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after buying an additional 157,319 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.2 %

ALB opened at $88.71 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $143.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.58.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.65.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.