West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Greenleaf Trust

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,153 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 386 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WST. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 34,326 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 6,143 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 11,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lattice Capital Management LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Lattice Capital Management LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of WST stock opened at $389.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market cap of $28.55 billion, a PE ratio of 49.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $377.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $364.11. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $310.42 and a 1-year high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WST shares. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

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.