Romano Brothers AND Company Has $313,000 Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Romano Brothers AND Company decreased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,632 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,117,000 after buying an additional 20,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $258,797,000 after acquiring an additional 14,874 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 10.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $149,833,000 after acquiring an additional 144,705 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,264,000 after acquiring an additional 29,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 11.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,198,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,503,000 after purchasing an additional 127,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $97.52 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $143.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of -5.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.58.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.65.

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.