Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 100 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,480 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,105,589 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $741,420,000 after acquiring an additional 28,010 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% during 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. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,414,431 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $498,049,000 after buying an additional 109,369 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $300,250,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $302,458,000 after buying an additional 33,867 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WST traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $328.85. 24,593 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 520,188. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a PE ratio of 43.35, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $374.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $363.84.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The business had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors 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 0.24%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total value of $24,198,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,063,718.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total value of $24,198,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,063,718.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,966 shares of company stock valued at $48,293,292 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.