Welch & Forbes LLC Increases Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,734 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in 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 worth $597,061,000 after acquiring an additional 578,796 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 806,103 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $302,458,000 after acquiring an additional 33,867 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $281,524,000 after buying an additional 60,927 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,011,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 476,407 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,753,000 after acquiring an additional 37,153 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WST shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of 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, Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST traded down $1.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $366.36. The company had a trading volume of 56,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,320. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $378.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $363.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $310.42 and a fifty-two week high of $415.73. The stock has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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 paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.55%.

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.