Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 417 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 50.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,237 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,440 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 50.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,806 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after buying an additional 3,292 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 64,397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 20.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 31,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,732,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WST. UBS Group cut their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on 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 MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $366.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $26.70 billion, a PE ratio of 48.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. 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 50 day moving average price of $377.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $362.99.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.