New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 1,352 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 137,112 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,352 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $48,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.3% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $275,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,098.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $737,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of WST opened at $385.73 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $377.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $364.26. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $310.42 and a twelve month high of $415.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.04. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WST. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

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.