Nordea Investment Management AB Raises Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,801 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 842 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in 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 lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the third 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 during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $149,833,000 after purchasing an additional 144,705 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,264,000 after purchasing an additional 29,721 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 11.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,198,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,503,000 after purchasing an additional 127,615 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.84.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $86.59 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.92. 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 $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 1.58. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $143.19.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

Albemarle Company 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.