Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp dramatically boosted its stake in Albemarle by 4,392.2% in Q4, buying an additional 6,764 shares to own 6,918 shares valued at about $978,000.
• Analysts have recently revised targets higher (e.g., RBC to $245, Oppenheimer to $222) but the consensus remains a Hold with an average target of $183 and a split of 13 Buys, 12 Holds and 2 Sells.
• Insider activity: CEO J. Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares for roughly $2.01 million (an 8.05% reduction in his position), and insiders now own about 0.42% of the company.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 4,392.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,918 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 6,764 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp's holdings in Albemarle were worth $978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BOKF NA grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Albemarle from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $183.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $2,012,654.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $194.99 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $179.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.97. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $53.70 and a 52 week high of $215.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $22.99 billion, a PE ratio of -33.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.09) EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 8.72 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.17%.

About Albemarle

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.

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