Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Purchases 8,944 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 195.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,944 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1,014.6% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 33,827 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after acquiring an additional 30,792 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Albemarle by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 60,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,760,000 after purchasing an additional 24,529 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 85,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,922,000 after purchasing an additional 10,764 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Wills Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wills Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other 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 value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ALB shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target 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 decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.47.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $99.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $102.06 and its 200 day moving average is $96.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $153.54. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.93 and a beta of 1.56.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.67%.

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.