NEOS Investment Management LLC Sells 202 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

NEOS Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,145 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 8,159 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,673,000 after buying an additional 1,259 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 3,562 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,110,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,019,007,000 after acquiring an additional 44,376 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 128,678 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $43,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,699 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 238.9% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,985 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,598,000 after purchasing an additional 7,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:WST opened at $222.08 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $396.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $263.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $297.82. The company has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. As a group, analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

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.