Natixis Advisors L.P. Decreases Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lowered its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,375 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned 0.06% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $16,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $597,061,000 after acquiring an additional 578,796 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 806,103 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $302,458,000 after purchasing an additional 33,867 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $281,524,000 after purchasing an additional 60,927 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $215,011,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 476,407 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $178,753,000 after buying an additional 37,153 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.4 %

WST opened at $366.54 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $377.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $362.99. The firm has a market cap of $26.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.36, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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 business had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.