West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Advisor OS LLC

Advisor OS LLC lessened its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,278 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 569 shares during the quarter. Advisor OS LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 39,466.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,838,000 after purchasing an additional 26,048 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,553 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 2,476 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 27,611 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 184,146 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $55,273,000 after acquiring an additional 24,218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $219.62 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $400.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $309.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $309.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.83, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.00.

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.