Tredje AP fonden Sells 19,451 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Tredje AP fonden cut its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,905 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 19,451 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $10,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 50.4% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $72.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.46 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.61. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $67.23 and a 1-year high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.05.

Albemarle 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.