Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $810,000 Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) by 17.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,291 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 488 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,687,000 after buying an additional 2,389 shares in the last quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at about $239,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 49.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,356,000 after acquiring an additional 4,778 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.1% in the second quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Suisse AG boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the second quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 131,963 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,901,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.35, for a total transaction of $14,183,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,627,006.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST opened at $328.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.19 and a 1 year high of $424.00. The stock has a market cap of $24.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $279.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.85.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.38. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 20.30%. The firm had revenue of $708.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $657.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 25th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $250.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.25.

West Pharmaceutical Services Profile

(Get Rating)

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following business segments: Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers proprietary packaging, containment and drug delivery products, along with analytical lab services, to biologic, generic and pharmaceutical drug customers.