Blue Trust Inc. Has $296,000 Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,121 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 60,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,806,000 after buying an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,220,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $692,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.95.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $83.99 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $143.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $94.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.27. The stock has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of -5.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.58.

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.