Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co Sells 13,804 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co decreased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 13,804 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 71.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 6,234 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 28.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,839,000 after buying an additional 157,319 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 521,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after acquiring an additional 127,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after acquiring an additional 93,718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Clarkson Capital began coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.95.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.2 %

Albemarle stock opened at $77.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of -4.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $143.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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.