Intrust Bank NA Has $523,000 Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Intrust Bank NA lowered its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,486 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,591,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $597,061,000 after buying an additional 578,796 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $215,011,000. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,900.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB now owns 180,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,538,000 after purchasing an additional 171,000 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 702.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $44,487,000 after purchasing an additional 110,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.4% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 279,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $104,726,000 after purchasing an additional 84,513 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WST. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased 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 research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WST stock opened at $357.40 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $310.42 and a fifty-two week high of $415.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $377.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $363.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a PE ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.04.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.55%.

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.