National Bank of Canada FI Sells 10,727 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,857 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 10,727 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $14,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in 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 last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. 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 in the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $368.35 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $310.42 and a 1 year high of $415.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $378.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $363.02.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on WST shares. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.