Greenleaf Trust Decreases Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Greenleaf Trust cut its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,153 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WST. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,591,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $597,061,000 after purchasing an additional 578,796 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,011,000. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,900.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB now owns 180,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,538,000 after purchasing an additional 171,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 702.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $44,487,000 after purchasing an additional 110,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 279,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,726,000 after purchasing an additional 84,513 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 3.9 %

NYSE WST opened at $389.98 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $377.77 and a 200-day moving average of $364.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company has a market cap of $28.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.49, a P/E/G ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.04.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.