Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,922 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 437 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 384 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Covenant Partners LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of 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 note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WST opened at $377.36 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $310.42 and a 52-week high of $415.73. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $379.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.00. The stock has a market cap of $27.63 billion, a PE ratio of 47.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.04.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 10.15%.

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.