Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Dover Advisors LLC

Dover Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,987 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $85,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 38.2% in the third 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 buying an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,839,000 after acquiring an additional 157,319 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $81.26 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $86.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.23. The company has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.26, a PEG ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. On average, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Clarkson Capital began coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho cut their price target 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.68.

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.