Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $2.27 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,437 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 182,057 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $64,106,000 after purchasing an additional 39,156 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 972 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 25.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $385.73 on Thursday. 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 $377.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $364.26. 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 $28.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 6.67 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 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the sale, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 in the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WST shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. 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, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, 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.