Ingalls & Snyder LLC Trims Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 55.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,133 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,776 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. First Community Trust NA raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Evercore ISI lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Albemarle Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $79.15 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.56 and a 200-day moving average of $92.39. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a PE ratio of -4.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $143.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 28.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -1.55 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.