Cetera Trust Company N.A Has $179,000 Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Cetera Trust Company N.A lessened its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,085 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in Albemarle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,117,000 after acquiring an additional 20,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $258,797,000 after acquiring an additional 14,874 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,198,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,503,000 after acquiring an additional 127,615 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 38.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after acquiring an additional 157,319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $92.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $143.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.77. The firm has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.55, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.58.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

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.