Mather Group LLC. Has $416,000 Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Mather Group LLC. reduced its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,181 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 578,796 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 806,103 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $302,458,000 after purchasing an additional 33,867 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $281,524,000 after buying an additional 60,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at about $215,011,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of WST stock opened at $363.43 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73. The firm has a market cap of $26.47 billion, a PE ratio of 47.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.30 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $377.63 and a 200-day moving average of $363.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp upped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.