LPL Financial LLC decreased its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK – Free Report) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,023 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PDT Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake by 0.9% during the first quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 9,443 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its stake in Westlake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 11,879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,976 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake by 1.6% in the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 9,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake
In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.00, for a total transaction of $131,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,329,388. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.
Westlake Price Performance
Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.52). Westlake had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current year.
Westlake Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 25th will be paid a $0.357 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 19.51%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WLK shares. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Westlake from $129.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Westlake from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.67.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Westlake
Westlake Profile
Westlake Corporation manufactures and markets performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, chlorinated derivative products, and epoxy resins.
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