500 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Purchased by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 71.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after buying an additional 157,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after buying an additional 93,718 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ALB. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.68.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, 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 at this link. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $78.55 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.18 and a 200 day moving average of $92.21. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $143.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of -7.01 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current 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.