LPL Financial LLC Sells 24,607 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

LPL Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 31.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,713 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 24,607 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $11,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Albemarle by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its holdings in Albemarle by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Trustcore Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trustcore Financial Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 82.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised shares of Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Piper Jaffray Companies initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, January 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $290.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.16.

Albemarle Stock Up 5.0 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $195.17 on Wednesday. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $171.82 and a twelve month high of $334.55. The company has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $10.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.93 by $3.39. Albemarle had a return on equity of 45.57% and a net margin of 41.89%. The business had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 128.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 24.21 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 16th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 5.13%.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 5,700 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.40, for a total value of $1,432,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,503 shares in the company, valued at $17,473,054.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kristin M. Coleman acquired 1,373 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $182.00 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,886. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Scott Tozier sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.40, for a total transaction of $1,432,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,473,054.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Albemarle

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.