557 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Bought by Kestra Investment Management LLC

Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 557 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $85,570,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 9,108.7% in 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. grew its stake in 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 period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 264,756 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 7,667.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $155,000,000 after purchasing an additional 161,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.68.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $81.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $71.97 and a 52-week high of $143.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.