Hanseatic Management Services Inc. Acquires New Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,633 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WST. VestGen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $235,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.4% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 2,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,093,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.8% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,969 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 26.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Annette Favorite sold 2,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $921,260.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 21,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,963,570. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 15,659 shares of company stock worth $5,443,749 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WST. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.17.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $404.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $365.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $311.80. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.83 and a 52 week high of $404.99. The company has a market capitalization of $28.46 billion, a PE ratio of 51.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.13.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 13.32%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc develops and manufactures components and delivery systems used in the administration and packaging of injectable medicines and other healthcare products. Its offerings include elastomer closures, seals, syringe components, drug-delivery systems, and other specialized packaging components designed to support the safety, quality, and performance of pharmaceutical products.

The company also provides contract-manufacturing services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical-device customers.