West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Purchased by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,326 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,143 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $12,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ninety One North America Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,368 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Lattice Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Lattice Capital Management LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 160.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,280 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,020 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.0 %

WST stock opened at $377.35 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $379.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.10. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $310.42 and a 52-week high of $415.73. The firm has a market cap of $27.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.89, a PEG ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.04.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The company had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $740.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total value of $23,077,900.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total value of $23,077,900.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target 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 raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.