Wedbush Securities Inc. Grows Position in Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN)

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) by 36.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,380 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Willdan Group were worth $382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Willdan Group by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 751,985 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,643,000 after acquiring an additional 50,262 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Willdan Group by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 432,135 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,460,000 after acquiring an additional 51,003 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Willdan Group by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 419,319 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,972,000 after acquiring an additional 49,217 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Willdan Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 296,398 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,293,000 after acquiring an additional 1,601 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Willdan Group by 136.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 208,059 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,925,000 after buying an additional 119,888 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Willdan Group news, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.28, for a total transaction of $266,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 72,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,839,942.88. This represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Micah Chen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.50, for a total transaction of $505,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 38,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,944,351. The trade was a 20.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,994,075. Corporate insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Willdan Group Stock Performance

WLDN stock opened at $82.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.54 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.95. Willdan Group, Inc. has a one year low of $30.43 and a one year high of $82.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Willdan Group in a research report on Thursday, July 10th.

Willdan Group Profile

Willdan Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides professional, technical, and consulting services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Energy, and Engineering and Consulting. The Energy segment offers comprehensive audit and surveys, program design and implementation, master planning, demand reduction, grid optimization, benchmarking analyses, design engineering, construction management, performance contracting, installation, alternative financing, measurement and verification services, and software and data analytics, as well as energy consulting and engineering, turnkey facility and infrastructure projects, and customer support services.