Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 890,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 158,713 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $125,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,542,000 after acquiring an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 231,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,742,000 after purchasing an additional 84,981 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 121.5% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 299 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas increased its holdings in Albemarle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 181.8% during the fourth quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 132,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,705,000 after purchasing an additional 85,320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $236.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.04.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $155.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a PE ratio of -45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.76. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.90 and a 12-month high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -47.51%.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.