Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 226 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,739 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth $89,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 over the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $365.02 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $377.90 and its 200 day moving average is $363.10. The company has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 48.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.95. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.62 million. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.55%.

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.