Stiles Financial Services Inc Reduces Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Stiles Financial Services Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,053 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. First Community Trust NA grew 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.95.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $77.30 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $71.97 and a 52-week high of $143.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.61, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.