TAP Consulting LLC Sells 3,535 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

TAP Consulting LLC lowered its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 34.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,658 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,535 shares during the quarter. TAP Consulting LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 149.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after buying an additional 8,420 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Albemarle by 5.4% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 235.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 8,503 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ALB. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ALB stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $114.96. 1,419,927 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,237,823. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $122.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.27. The company has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.69 and a 12 month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

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.