Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC Sells 2,087 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC lowered its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,087 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its holdings in Albemarle by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 16,675 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $85,570,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 57,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,940,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 71.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $85.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a PE ratio of -5.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.58. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer cut 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. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.95.

Insider Activity

In related 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 directly owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

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.