Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Wabtec $WAB

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,781 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wabtec were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Wabtec by 33.4% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,592,529 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $333,062,000 after buying an additional 398,782 shares in the last quarter. Keeler Thomas Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wabtec in the second quarter worth about $1,421,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wabtec by 8.7% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 439,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $91,935,000 after buying an additional 35,088 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Wabtec by 6.1% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 48,066 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,996,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Wabtec by 25.8% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 512 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 91.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wabtec Price Performance

Shares of WAB opened at $198.04 on Wednesday. Wabtec has a 1-year low of $151.81 and a 1-year high of $216.10. The stock has a market cap of $33.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.04. Wabtec had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Wabtec has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.850-9.050 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Wabtec will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Wabtec Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Wabtec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $231.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Wabtec from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wabtec in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wabtec has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.38.

Insider Transactions at Wabtec

In related news, CEO Rafael Santana sold 1,798 shares of Wabtec stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.04, for a total value of $350,681.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 133,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,966,260.32. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory Sbrocco sold 2,953 shares of Wabtec stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.43, for a total transaction of $577,104.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,484,321.47. This trade represents a 14.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,781,345. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About Wabtec

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides technology-based locomotives, equipment, systems, and services for the freight rail and passenger transit industries worldwide. It offers diesel-electric, battery, and liquid natural gas-powered locomotives; engines, electric motors, and propulsion systems; and marine and mining products.