OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Increases Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,675 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 856 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA grew 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 last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 42,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,031,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer dropped 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. Mizuho dropped their price target on Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial began coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.95.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.5 %

ALB stock opened at $86.35 on Thursday. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $143.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.58.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.