D.A. Davidson & CO. Decreases Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 549 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,117,000 after purchasing an additional 20,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $258,797,000 after purchasing an additional 14,874 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after purchasing an additional 282,194 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 741,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,827,000 after purchasing an additional 35,765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $78.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of -7.01 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.21. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $143.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was 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 accessible through this link. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.68.

Albemarle Company 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.