Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 9th, 2023

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 88,907 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,969 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.08% of Albemarle worth $19,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Albemarle by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. 82.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $328.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.74.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $219.62 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $171.82 and a 1 year high of $334.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $198.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.99. The company has a market cap of $25.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $10.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.93 by $3.39. Albemarle had a net margin of 41.89% and a return on equity of 45.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue was up 128.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 22.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters acquired 5,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $181.64 per share, for a total transaction of $993,570.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,466 shares in the company, valued at $9,348,284.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO J Kent Masters bought 5,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $181.64 per share, for a total transaction of $993,570.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 51,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,348,284.24. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kristin M. Coleman bought 1,373 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $182.00 per share, with a total value of $249,886.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,886. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 8,103 shares of company stock worth $1,489,774 over the last ninety days. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Company Profile

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.