West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Purchased by abrdn plc

abrdn plc raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,057 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 39,156 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned about 0.25% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $64,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.4% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 147 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $372.04 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $378.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $364.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.21, a PEG ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $310.42 and a 1 year high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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 decreased their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.