Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Stock Holdings Increased by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 56.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 304,429 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,953,000 after acquiring an additional 109,433 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,630,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $577,344,000 after buying an additional 96,152 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,142,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $159,917,000 after buying an additional 66,614 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Westlake by 10.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 682,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $85,129,000 after buying an additional 63,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,492,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total transaction of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,389,052.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total value of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,389,052.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on WLK. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Vertical Research lowered Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.79.

Westlake Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $152.25 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $148.47 and a 200-day moving average of $138.30. The stock has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $103.28 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.46.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 100.50%.

About Westlake

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.