Insider Selling: Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) CEO Sells $255,328.00 in Stock

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Albemarle Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $104.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.56. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $153.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.39.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 9,108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,440,000 after acquiring an additional 568,563 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after purchasing an additional 290,862 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,660,000 after purchasing an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 67.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,333,000 after buying an additional 264,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 7,667.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $155,000,000 after buying an additional 161,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALB. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.