Eric Mark Green Sells 66,000 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Stock

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total value of $24,198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,063,718.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Eric Mark Green also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 27th, Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST stock opened at $365.72 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $310.42 and a 1-year high of $415.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $378.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $363.07. The firm has a market cap of $26.64 billion, a PE ratio of 48.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WST. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.20.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,440 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 20.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,514,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 110.7% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,309 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after buying an additional 8,043 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 14,273 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,355,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at about $2,831,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.