Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 123,543 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,604,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 123,543 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.41% of Albemarle worth $1,184,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. PGGM Investments boosted its position in Albemarle by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after buying an additional 115,081 shares during the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at $3,313,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 14.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,384,000 after acquiring an additional 21,257 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $267,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 11.4% in the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 866,575 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,308,000 after purchasing an additional 88,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $145.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.52.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $168.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $161.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.84. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $195.68.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.