Xponance Inc. Sells 829 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,570 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 829 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $5,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13,230.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,571,000 after purchasing an additional 18,522 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $281,524,000 after purchasing an additional 60,927 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,830 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,958 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,563,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 11,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,368 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of WST stock opened at $372.06 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $310.42 and a 12-month high of $415.73. The company has a market capitalization of $27.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $378.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $364.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total value of $23,077,900.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 90 days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.