The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases New Position in Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,900 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 900 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 155,761 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,378,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 9.3% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 10,328 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Willdan Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,533 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,496,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Willdan Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willdan Group

In related news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 1,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.86, for a total transaction of $82,731.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 173,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,963,772.44. This represents a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 7,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.69, for a total value of $321,013.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 422,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,597,515.76. This trade represents a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,787 shares of company stock valued at $936,061. 9.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Willdan Group Price Performance

Shares of WLDN stock opened at $41.64 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.84 and its 200 day moving average is $38.02. Willdan Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.23 and a 1-year high of $50.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a market cap of $588.17 million, a P/E ratio of 25.55 and a beta of 1.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WLDN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Willdan Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Monday, November 4th.

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.