Rothschild Investment LLC Has $1.02 Million Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Rothschild Investment LLC cut its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 905 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Albemarle by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 42,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $81.00 on Tuesday. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $143.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced 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 return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle 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.