HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 1,057 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 6,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 141,997 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $33,419,000 after buying an additional 25,775 shares in the last quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.3% in the third quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,124,000 after buying an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 463.7% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,143,000 after buying an additional 3,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth $340,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $350.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.20, a PEG ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $351.90 and its 200 day moving average is $291.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.79, a current ratio of 3.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.19 and a 52-week high of $376.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.31. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.15% and a return on equity of 24.14%. The business had revenue of $716.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 25th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $250.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 13,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.81, for a total transaction of $4,759,919.72. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,877 shares in the company, valued at $5,442,155.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 13,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.81, for a total value of $4,759,919.72. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,877 shares in the company, valued at $5,442,155.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.57, for a total transaction of $483,855.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,357,697.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,744 shares of company stock worth $38,778,758 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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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.