Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton Sells 152 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton reduced its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 983 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $85,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 9,108.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 568,563 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 lifted its stake 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 7,667.4% in 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 during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,839,000 after buying an additional 157,319 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’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 value of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $92.71 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $98.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.89. The company has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.53 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

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.