Baillie Gifford & Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Wabtec $WAB

Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its position in Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 11,487 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.05% of Wabtec worth $18,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Wabtec by 2.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,930,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,172,532,000 after acquiring an additional 493,437 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wabtec by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,288,014 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $893,830,000 after purchasing an additional 30,489 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Wabtec by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,261,456 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $471,410,000 after purchasing an additional 186,248 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Wabtec by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,974,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $393,252,000 after purchasing an additional 381,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wabtec during the 2nd quarter worth $347,194,000. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Wabtec from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wabtec from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wabtec in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wabtec from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wabtec from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wabtec news, CEO Rafael Santana sold 1,798 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.17, for a total transaction of $381,481.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 125,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,720,901.97. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO John A. Mastalerz, Jr. sold 2,766 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $580,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,060. This trade represents a 34.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,963 shares of company stock valued at $6,513,315 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wabtec Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAB opened at $230.04 on Friday. Wabtec has a twelve month low of $151.81 and a twelve month high of $236.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $39.33 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $215.86 and its 200 day moving average is $203.92.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.04. Wabtec had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wabtec will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

About Wabtec

Wabtec Corporation (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is a global provider of equipment, systems and services for the rail industry. The company supplies products and solutions to freight railroads, transit agencies and other industrial operators, focusing on technologies that improve the performance, safety and efficiency of locomotives and rail networks. Wabtec’s business spans new equipment manufacturing, aftermarket parts and services, and digital and control systems for rail operations.

Product and service offerings include locomotive systems and components, braking and air systems, propulsion and traction equipment, signaling and control technologies, and a range of aftermarket services such as maintenance, remanufacturing, parts distribution and fleet modernization.