West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Position Lifted by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 90.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $67,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 384 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the fourth 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 raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Covenant Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $372.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a PE ratio of 47.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $378.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $364.11. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $310.42 and a fifty-two 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.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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 firm earned $1.77 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WST. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’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 transaction of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.