Centricity Wealth Management LLC Takes $39,000 Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 450 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. First Community Trust NA lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $81.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.05. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $143.19. The firm has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a PE ratio of -7.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle 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 approximately $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.68.

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.