Meridian Financial Partners LLC Has $515,000 Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,449 shares during the quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP increased its position in Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ALB. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.65.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $92.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a PE ratio of -5.53 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $143.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $98.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.89.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.