Susan Byrne Sells 7,129 Shares of Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) Stock

Westwood Holdings Group Inc (NYSE:WHG) Director Susan Byrne sold 7,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $142,793.87. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,809,363.24. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Westwood Holdings Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Westwood Holdings Group stock opened at $19.23 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.09. Westwood Holdings Group Inc has a 12-month low of $14.70 and a 12-month high of $20.97. The firm has a market cap of $182.54 million, a PE ratio of 23.17 and a beta of 0.57.

Westwood Holdings Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Westwood Holdings Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WHG. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Westwood Holdings Group by 9.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 41,898 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,561 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Westwood Holdings Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 55,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Westwood Holdings Group by 6.5% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 82,210 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. lifted its position in Westwood Holdings Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 11,192 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Westwood Holdings Group by 31.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 31,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 7,543 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Westwood Holdings Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westwood Holdings Group to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

About Westwood Holdings Group

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc is an independent, publicly traded asset management firm founded in 1983 and headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company offers a range of investment advisory services tailored to institutional, retail, and high-net-worth clients. Westwood’s disciplined, value-oriented approach guides its research process across equity and fixed-income markets, with an emphasis on fundamental analysis and long-term risk management.

The firm’s product lineup includes U.S.