J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Purchases 69,850 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 493.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,011 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 69,850 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG owned approximately 0.07% of Albemarle worth $11,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PGGM Investments lifted its position in Albemarle by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after buying an additional 115,081 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,313,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,384,000 after acquiring an additional 21,257 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,171,000. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 45.3% in the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 42,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,478,000 after acquiring an additional 13,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Scotiabank raised Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Albemarle from $158.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research cut Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Stephens reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.24.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $177.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.14 and a 200-day moving average of $135.93. The stock has a market cap of $20.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.79, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -28.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.