West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Stake Trimmed by CNB Bank

CNB Bank cut its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 173 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. CNB Bank’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,541,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,124,000 after purchasing an additional 23,850 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,133,000 after buying an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.3 %

WST stock opened at $336.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $327.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $312.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $265.00 and a 52-week high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The company had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.46%.

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.