Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Stake Decreased by Edge Capital Group LLC

Edge Capital Group LLC reduced its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 406 shares during the quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $85,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $96,660,000 after buying an additional 282,194 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 264,756 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,839,000 after purchasing an additional 157,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 28.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,067,000 after buying an additional 93,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $81.26 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.23. The firm has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 1.59. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $143.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released 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 research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.11 earnings per share 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.