Signaturefd LLC Has $323,000 Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Signaturefd LLC trimmed its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 916 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% during the third quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.5% in the third quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WST. UBS Group decreased their price target on 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. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $368.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.72, a PEG ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $377.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $364.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.15%.

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.