Readystate Asset Management LP Sells 22,279 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Readystate Asset Management LP cut its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 69.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 22,279 shares during the quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Evexia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $113.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.74. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $64.95 and a one year high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a PE ratio of -33.22 and a beta of 1.34.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -47.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Citigroup raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Albemarle from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.22.

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.