Intrust Bank NA Sells 102 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Intrust Bank NA reduced its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,486 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WST. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $215,011,000. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB now owns 180,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,538,000 after purchasing an additional 171,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 702.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $44,487,000 after purchasing an additional 110,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $104,726,000 after purchasing an additional 84,513 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services 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 directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $357.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $377.48 and a 200 day moving average of $363.56. The company has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a PE ratio of 47.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $310.42 and a 12-month 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.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.