Independent Advisor Alliance Has $438,000 Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 41.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 882 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13,230.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,571,000 after buying an additional 18,522 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $281,524,000 after buying an additional 60,927 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,830 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 2,368 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,958 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,563,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total transaction of $24,198,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,063,718.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,978 shares of company stock valued at $50,852,672 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE WST opened at $337.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 1.05. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $377.25 and a 200-day moving average of $364.30.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The company had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.55%.

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.