Findlay Park Partners LLP Buys New Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 171,902 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $40,457,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $257,000. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC now owns 49,980 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,763,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,810 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. Settian Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Settian Capital LP now owns 6,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Fiducient Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $964,000. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $250.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. StockNews.com began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Stephens upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.35, for a total value of $14,183,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,627,006.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.35, for a total value of $14,183,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,627,006.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 13,012 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.81, for a total transaction of $4,759,919.72. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,442,155.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,744 shares of company stock worth $38,778,758. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 2.3 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $342.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.19 and a 52 week high of $376.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $352.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.55. 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 (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.31. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 19.15%. The firm had revenue of $716.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $697.28 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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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.