United Asset Strategies Inc. Has $474,000 Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 46.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,283 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 124,405.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 104,510,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,664,050,000 after purchasing an additional 104,426,113 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,661,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,021,130,000 after buying an additional 75,867 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,582,008 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,118,007,000 after buying an additional 260,087 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Albemarle by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,364,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,188,408,000 after buying an additional 16,968 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,422,227 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $534,193,000 after buying an additional 57,094 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $114.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.69 and a twelve month high of $247.44. The stock has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $123.17 and its 200 day moving average is $129.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Albemarle Company 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.