Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,570,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 9,108.7% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,440,000 after buying an additional 568,563 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after acquiring an additional 282,194 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after acquiring an additional 264,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 7,667.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $155,000,000 after acquiring an additional 161,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $75.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.48, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.19 and a 200-day moving average of $92.71. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $143.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was 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 link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on 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 assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.95.

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.