Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,313 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 778 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on ALB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.68.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.5 %

ALB opened at $81.26 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.23. The company has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.26, a PEG ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.