Banco Santander S.A. Lowers Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 8,087 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $363,117,000 after purchasing an additional 20,930 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $209,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,117 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $149,833,000 after purchasing an additional 144,705 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $125,264,000 after purchasing an additional 29,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,198,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $114,503,000 after purchasing an additional 127,615 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Berenberg Bank cut Albemarle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $114.47.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.6 %

ALB traded down $0.60 on Friday, hitting $108.38. 1,811,972 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,947,324. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a PE ratio of -6.47 and a beta of 1.55. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

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.