Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases Shares of 8,207 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,207 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,890,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Two 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $360.43 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $377.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $364.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $310.42 and a twelve month high of $415.73. The stock has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.04.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, 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 value 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 approximately $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.