1,217 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Acquired by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,217 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WST. UBS Group decreased 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp upped 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. Two investment 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WST opened at $366.66 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $378.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $363.05. 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 one year low of $310.42 and a one year high of $415.73. The company has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a PE ratio of 48.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.55%.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.