Certuity LLC Acquires Shares of 740 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Certuity LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 740 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WST shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $363.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.47 billion, a PE ratio of 47.95, a P/E/G ratio of 6.30 and a beta of 1.05. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $310.42 and a twelve month high of $415.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $377.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $363.37. 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 (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. Research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.