Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,700 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 7,300 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $6,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.2% during the second quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 5,981 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 70.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 123 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 35.0% during the first quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 880 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 49.1% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,356,000 after acquiring an additional 4,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $385.00 to $250.00 in a report on Friday, October 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 2nd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $266.25.
West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.1 %
Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $235.13 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.19 and a 1 year high of $475.00. The company has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $234.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.80 and a quick ratio of 2.89.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.12 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $686.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.64 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 28.15%. Analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 25th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 24th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.17%.
Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services
In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.99, for a total value of $10,515,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 114,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,465,208.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.
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