Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 16.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,653 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 7,871 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Westlake were worth $6,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Westlake during the third quarter worth about $84,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,239,420. The trade was a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WLK shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $162.17.

Westlake Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Westlake stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $117.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 746,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,522. The business has a fifty day moving average of $131.47 and a 200 day moving average of $140.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $116.66 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 165.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 295.77%.

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.