AIA Group Ltd Has $413,000 Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,172 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,716,312 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,579,876,000 after buying an additional 82,459 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,719,972 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $404,796,000 after buying an additional 12,228 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% during 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,542,451 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $533,210,000 after buying an additional 35,627 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,305,062 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $489,672,000 after buying an additional 35,788 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lowered their target price on 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 boosted their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST opened at $372.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a PE ratio of 47.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $378.56 and a 200-day moving average of $364.11. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $310.42 and a 52-week high of $415.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.15%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.