Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 121,015 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 51.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 112,006 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 121,015 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $9,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.30.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.5 %

Albemarle stock opened at $79.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of -7.12 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $67.23 and a 12 month high of $137.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.17. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

Albemarle 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.