West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Acquired by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 55.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13,230.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,571,000 after buying an additional 18,522 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $281,524,000 after purchasing an additional 60,927 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,830 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 11,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,958 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,563,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total value of $24,198,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,063,718.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,978 shares of company stock worth $50,852,672. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $337.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $377.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $364.30. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.46, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.95 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for 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%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WST. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.