Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Takes $85.57 Million Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 994,079 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,570,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALB. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 70.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 392.6% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 6,309 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 165.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 39,623 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,785,000 after acquiring an additional 24,704 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 90.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 48,324 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 22,924 shares during the period. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,064 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This 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 available at this link. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ALB. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.71.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $0.04 on Wednesday, hitting $85.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 181,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,075,883. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $96.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.49. The company has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.58.

Albemarle 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.