HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,289 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,542 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

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

Albemarle Stock Up 0.1 %

Albemarle stock opened at $99.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $153.54. The company has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of -5.94 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $101.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.45.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.67%.

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.