West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Stock Holdings Increased by Lindbrook Capital LLC

Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 46.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,591,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $597,061,000 after purchasing an additional 578,796 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,305,062 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $489,672,000 after purchasing an additional 35,788 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 806,103 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $302,458,000 after purchasing an additional 33,867 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $281,524,000 after purchasing an additional 60,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $215,011,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of 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 sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $385.73 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $310.42 and a one year high of $415.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $377.32 and a 200-day moving average of $364.26. The company has a market capitalization of $28.24 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 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 company had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WST. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company 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 upped their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.