Bristlecone Advisors LLC Buys 4,899 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares during the quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in Albemarle by 0.5% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,117,000 after acquiring an additional 20,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $258,797,000 after purchasing an additional 14,874 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,660,000 after purchasing an additional 282,194 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 28.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,839,000 after buying an additional 157,319 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ALB. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Albemarle Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $77.30 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of -4.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $143.19.

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.