Westpac's Major Stock Moves
Westpac rebalances portfolio with increased stakes in Disney, Centene, and U.S. Bancorp
Westpac Banking Corp reported major position changes across several large U.S. stocks, including adding to The Walt Disney Company, Centene, U.S. Bancorp, and Kimberly-Clark while trimming Yum! Brands. In Disney, Westpac increased its stake by about 55% and analysts recently moved toward more positive stances, with upgrades and price-target increases. For Centene, Westpac raised its holdings by roughly 36%, and the company’s institutional ownership remains heavily concentrated among large funds. Westpac cut Yum! Brands by about 8%, and the filings also detailed recent insider selling by the restaurant company’s CEO. In financials, Westpac’s U.S. Bancorp stake jumped nearly 10-fold, while in consumer staples it increased Kimberly-Clark holdings by about 25%, alongside ongoing analyst commentary across both names.
Key Points
In Disney, Westpac reported it owned 28,430 shares after purchasing an additional 10,109 shares in the quarter; the position was valued at about $3.234 million. The filing also showed 65.71% of DIS is held by “hedge funds and other institutional investors.” Separately, analyst upgrades included Raymond James raising the stock from “market perform” to “outperform” with a $115 target, and Needham reissuing a “buy” with a $125 target.
For Centene, Westpac disclosed it held 68,859 shares after adding 18,095 shares, with the stake valued at about $2.834 million. The report also said institutional investors/hedge funds own 93.63% of CNC, and included company fundamentals such as a market cap of about $29.58 billion and a reported P/E ratio of -4.56 (along with quick ratio and current ratio of 1.12).
For Yum! Brands, the insider-trading detail went beyond “CEO selling”: CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares at an average price of $154.68 for total proceeds of $464,040, reducing his holdings by 48.86% to 3,140 shares afterward (valued at $485,695.20). The article also noted another executive, Scott Mezvinsky, sold 261 shares at an average price of $148.1 (partially shown).
In U.S. Bancorp coverage, multiple analysts published specific target-price and rating changes in addition to the Westpac stake increase—e.g., Morgan Stanley set a $64.00 target, DA Davidson reiterated “buy” at a $65.00 target, Oppenheimer lifted its target from $73.00 to $74.00 with an “outperform” rating, and Barclays raised its price objective from $65.00 to $67.00 with an “overweight” rating.
For Kimberly-Clark, Westpac reported owning 54,135 shares after purchasing an additional 10,811 shares, valuing the stake at about $5.462 million. The article added that 76.29% of KMB is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors, and cited analyst movement such as Barclays cutting its price target from $105.00 to $99.00 while keeping an “equal weight” rating.
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