1,040 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Bought by Chase Investment Counsel Corp

Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.6 %

WST opened at $354.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.78, a P/E/G ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $377.48 and a 200 day moving average of $363.56.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 10.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WST shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.