Everence Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 160.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,280 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 2,020 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13,230.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $281,524,000 after acquiring an additional 60,927 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in 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 worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,287.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 44,940 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,862,000 after purchasing an additional 41,700 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group cut 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. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $379.48 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $310.42 and a 52-week high of $415.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $380.70 and a 200-day moving average of $363.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a PE ratio of 48.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $740.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.