Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Buys 315 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,699 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Covenant Partners LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% in the 3rd 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. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST traded down $17.55 on Thursday, reaching $368.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 742,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 515,104. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $377.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $364.26. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $310.42 and a 12-month high of $415.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.04.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors 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 is 10.15%.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the 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 $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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