Swiss National Bank Sells 3,800 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Westlake were worth $16,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 1,360.8% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 40,123 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,616,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in Westlake by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Westlake during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction of $753,340.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,141,779.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total value of $753,340.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,141,779.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,608 shares of company stock worth $2,676,565. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE WLK opened at $157.31 on Friday. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $103.28 and a one year high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market cap of $20.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $149.94 and its 200-day moving average is $139.08.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 7.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.