HB Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

HB Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 520,292 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 29,993 shares during the period. Albemarle accounts for about 0.5% of HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. HB Wealth Management LLC owned about 0.44% of Albemarle worth $44,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $1,952,000. First Community Trust NA increased its holdings 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, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.65.

Albemarle Trading Up 3.4 %

Albemarle stock traded up $3.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,048,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,608,407. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $143.19. 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 firm has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.82, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.88.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.