Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) Director Susan Byrne Sells 616 Shares

Westwood Holdings Group Inc (NYSE:WHG) Director Susan Byrne sold 616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total value of $10,681.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 275,228 shares in the company, valued at $4,772,453.52. This represents a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Westwood Holdings Group Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of WHG stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.46. The stock had a trading volume of 23,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,376. Westwood Holdings Group Inc has a one year low of $14.70 and a one year high of $18.99. The firm has a market cap of $165.65 million, a PE ratio of 21.03 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.88.

Westwood Holdings Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Westwood Holdings Group’s payout ratio is 72.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WHG shares. Wall Street Zen raised Westwood Holdings Group to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Westwood Holdings Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westwood Holdings Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WHG. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new stake in Westwood Holdings Group during the first quarter worth $213,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Westwood Holdings Group by 8.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 2,291 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Westwood Holdings Group during the 1st quarter worth $366,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Westwood Holdings Group by 141.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 94,311 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Westwood Holdings Group by 1,277.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,537 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 6,990 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.64% of the company’s stock.

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.