412 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 412 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $154,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $737,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,909 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,844,000 after purchasing an additional 4,121 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 50,655 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $19,006,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Covenant Partners LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’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 transaction of $292,438.30. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other 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 value of $292,438.30. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 in the last ninety days. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $360.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $377.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $364.13. The stock has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.04. 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 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.29%. The business had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.55%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.