Ninety One North America Inc. Acquires 2,368 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Ninety One North America Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 25.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the quarter. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 147 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased 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 report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE WST traded down $0.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $376.86. 134,228 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 508,485. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market cap of $27.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $379.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $364.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $310.42 and a 12-month high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 10.15%.

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.