Howard Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,313 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 778 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,117,000 after buying an additional 20,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $258,797,000 after purchasing an additional 14,874 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 741,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,827,000 after purchasing an additional 35,765 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.68.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $81.26 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.23. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $143.19. 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 (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.