Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $940,000 Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,871 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after buying an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $210.98 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $312.73. The firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $400.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.62%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. On average, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.35 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.00.

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.