Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank cut its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 21.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 72,158 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 19,356 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $6,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. FORA Capital LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 99.2% in the third quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 38,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,675,000 after acquiring an additional 19,320 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $200,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth $142,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Albemarle by 800.7% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 16,617 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after buying an additional 14,772 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $107.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $12.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.43 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.40. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $153.54.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective 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. Baird R W downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.47.

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.