Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Sells 130,144 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP decreased its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 523,002 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 130,144 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.48% of Celanese worth $81,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 83.7% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 180.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 142.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Celanese from $153.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.78.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE stock traded up $1.28 on Friday, hitting $152.87. 423,586 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 633,978. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $103.23 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $160.18 and a 200 day moving average of $150.55. The stock has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.37.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. Celanese’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.41%.

Celanese Profile

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics.