Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 116,454 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,055 shares during the period. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $10,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its stake in Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. First Community Trust NA boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.68.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $81.26 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.93 and its 200-day moving average is $92.23. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $143.19. The firm has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted 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 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Equities analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Albemarle

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.