Mizuho Cuts Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $105.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Mizuho from $110.00 to $105.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.61% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.84.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $90.82. 382,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,787,422. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.42 and a beta of 1.58. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after purchasing an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 28.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after purchasing an additional 157,319 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 392.6% in the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 6,309 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 32.4% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 521,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,395,000 after purchasing an additional 127,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after buying an additional 93,718 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.