Ninety One UK Ltd Has $12.09 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 21.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,326 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,143 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $12,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 384 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $377.35 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $379.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $364.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $27.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.89, a P/E/G ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.04.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The firm had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $740.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

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.