CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 387 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,471 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 387 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 13,550 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $245,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Albemarle by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. grew its stake in Albemarle by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 2,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Mizuho reduced their price target on Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.65.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $88.71 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $96.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.66. The stock has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a PE ratio of -5.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.58. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -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.