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

MONECO Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,504 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $121,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $1,529,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 22,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ALB. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.68.

Albemarle Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE ALB opened at $78.55 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $143.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of -7.01 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.21.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.