Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 18,275 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $17,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ALB. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 71.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 6,234 shares during the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Albemarle by 28.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,718 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 264,756 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $72.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $67.23 and a one year high of $137.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its 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 return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

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.