AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Has $961,000 Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,380 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,346 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Westlake were worth $961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 247.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Westlake by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Westlake by 84.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.79.

Westlake Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE WLK opened at $115.30 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $115.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $108.56 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of 162.40, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

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.