Duality Advisers LP Sells 109 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Duality Advisers LP trimmed its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WST. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $737,000. Czech National Bank increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,909 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,844,000 after buying an additional 4,121 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 50,655 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $19,006,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covenant Partners LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WST. KeyCorp upped their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group dropped 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 2.1 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $360.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $377.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $364.13. The company has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.55, a PEG ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $310.42 and a fifty-two week high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.29% and a net margin of 19.42%. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.65 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 $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 payout ratio is 10.55%.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 can be accessed through this link. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.