Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) CEO J Kent Masters Sells 2,525 Shares

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $104.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $101.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $153.54.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 26,098 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in Albemarle by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 11,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $267,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 4,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALB. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.47.

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.