Mission Wealth Management LP Grows Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Mission Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,531 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on 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. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $357.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.61 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $377.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $363.56.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. 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 currently 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.