Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Stock Holdings Reduced by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 293 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,952,000. First Community Trust NA grew its holdings in Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $228,000. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 38,964 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,354,000 after acquiring an additional 13,075 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ALB. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp decreased their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.65.

Albemarle Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $94.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.58. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $143.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.77.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

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.