Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Has $905,000 Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. decreased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,763 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 239 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,980 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,269,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $221.24 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $314.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.23. The company has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.07, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.56%.

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.