Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First Community Trust NA increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.91.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Stock Up 3.1 %

ALB opened at $83.69 on Wednesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $143.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.11 and its 200 day moving average is $92.20. The stock has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 28.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.