Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $2.67 Million Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 14,878 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,529,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 22,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 369.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 5.1% during the 4th 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. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.68.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $81.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.56 and a 200-day moving average of $92.23. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a PE ratio of -7.23, a PEG ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.