DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Purchases 111 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,502 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $8,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% in the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 384 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% during the third quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $389.77 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $28.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $381.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $363.84.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on WST shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.