West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc lowered its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) by 29.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $27,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the third quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 822 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 783 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 103.6% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $351.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.27, a P/E/G ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.19 and a 1 year high of $376.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.62 and a quick ratio of 2.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.74.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $716.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $697.28 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 19.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 25th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WST. StockNews.com began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Stephens upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. KeyCorp increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $250.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.10, for a total value of $15,976,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,863,819.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.10, for a total value of $15,976,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,863,819.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas W. Hofmann sold 1,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.57, for a total value of $443,070.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,944,701.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,744 shares of company stock worth $38,778,758. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following business segments: Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers proprietary packaging, containment and drug delivery products, along with analytical lab services, to biologic, generic and pharmaceutical drug customers.