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

AlphaMark Advisors LLC cut its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,352 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 737 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after buying an additional 82,874 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Albemarle by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,310,000 after buying an additional 1,245,719 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE ALB traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $97.43. 2,450,930 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,080,618. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $92.29 and a 1-year high of $247.44. The stock has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.08.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.32 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, May 24th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.78.

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.