Bogart Wealth LLC Sells 244 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Bogart Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after buying an additional 4,899 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,801,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after buying an additional 2,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle 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. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price target on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp cut their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.38.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $81.20 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.09 and its 200 day moving average is $92.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.85, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 28.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.