Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $130.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target decreased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 13.13% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.85.

Westlake Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $114.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.79 billion, a PE ratio of 161.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. 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 has a 52-week low of $108.95 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.81 and a 200 day moving average of $135.37.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Westlake in the third quarter worth $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Westlake in the second quarter worth $66,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Westlake during the third quarter valued at $75,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Company 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.