Metis Global Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,434 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,591,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $597,061,000 after buying an additional 578,796 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $215,011,000. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,900.0% in the third quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB now owns 180,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,538,000 after acquiring an additional 171,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 702.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $44,487,000 after purchasing an additional 110,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 279,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,726,000 after purchasing an additional 84,513 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WST opened at $368.35 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $310.42 and a 12-month high of $415.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $378.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $363.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WST. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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, KeyCorp boosted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, 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 have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.