Appleton Partners Inc. MA Lowers Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 29.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,731 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 718 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingfisher Capital LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 0.6% during the third quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. USCF Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 276 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Vertical Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.11.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock traded down $1.13 on Tuesday, reaching $99.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,240,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,984,796. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $98.95 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The stock has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.23.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.