Amalgamated Bank Sells 482 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Amalgamated Bank cut its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,058 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 482 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $7,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in 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 lifted 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 buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.5% during the third quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Balentine LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $365.02 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $377.90 and its 200-day moving average is $363.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.61. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The company has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 48.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut 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 research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.