Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 42 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 389 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $237,367,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,591,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $597,061,000 after buying an additional 578,796 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $215,011,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 849,266 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $294,246,000 after buying an additional 359,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $44,610,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $377.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $27.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.89, a PEG ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $379.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $364.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,023,943.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.