Venturi Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 369.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,563 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. First Community Trust NA lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.68.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.5 %

Albemarle stock opened at $81.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. 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 $86.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a PE ratio of -7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.