JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 1,249,171 Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,980,245 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,249,171 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.23% of LyondellBasell Industries worth $295,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,202,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,170,183,000 after buying an additional 230,327 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,582,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $637,394,000 after purchasing an additional 558,137 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,605,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $638,964,000 after purchasing an additional 277,108 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,858,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $283,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260,913 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,875,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $268,664,000 after purchasing an additional 293,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LYB. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reduced their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $86.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.25.

Insider Activity

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, Director Michael Sean Hanley acquired 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.05 per share, for a total transaction of $270,187.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 16,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,817.40. This trade represents a 30.54 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

Shares of LYB opened at $69.81 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.11. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52-week low of $69.74 and a 52-week high of $107.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.06.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.53). LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 15.97%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 129.47%.

LyondellBasell Industries Company Profile

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology.