Vest Financial LLC Has $51.35 Million Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 596,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $51,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $85,570,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 9,108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,440,000 after purchasing an additional 568,563 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 282,194 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew 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 worth $62,333,000 after buying an additional 264,756 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 7,667.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $155,000,000 after buying an additional 161,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Albemarle Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $77.30 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $71.97 and a 52-week high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.80. The firm has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of -4.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Clarkson Capital started coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.95.

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.