Westside Investment Management Inc. Has $134,000 Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Albemarle by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.3% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 42,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,031,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $90.34 on Thursday. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.74. The company has a market cap of $10.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.39, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.58.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -9.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.65.

Albemarle 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.