Benjamin Edwards Inc. Invests $271,000 in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,862 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% in the 3rd 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 period. Foster Group Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 4.1% in the second quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its holdings in Albemarle by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 42,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.47.

Albemarle Stock Down 5.2 %

Albemarle stock opened at $103.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.13. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $153.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.21 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.67%.

Albemarle 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.