Horizon Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Horizon Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 7,848 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC owned about 0.07% of Albemarle worth $11,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BOKF NA raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at $22,995,808.68. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ALB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Albemarle from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Albemarle from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $188.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $183.00.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.4%

ALB stock opened at $193.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $53.70 and a 12-month high of $215.71. The stock has a market cap of $22.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.73, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.36. The business's 50-day moving average is $178.48 and its 200 day moving average is $151.51.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 8.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Albemarle's payout ratio is presently -28.17%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.