Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 3,073 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 42.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,136 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 3,073 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Westlake were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake by 43.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Westlake by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WLK. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.23.

Westlake Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE WLK traded up $0.00 on Tuesday, reaching $90.11. The company had a trading volume of 102,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 734,824. The company's fifty day moving average is $104.30 and its 200-day moving average is $118.30. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $81.40 and a 1-year high of $161.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

Westlake 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.