Everett Harris & Co. CA Has $1.32 Million Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Everett Harris & Co. CA reduced its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,757 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 879 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 702.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $44,487,000 after buying an additional 110,597 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 69,961 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,635,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WST shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of 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 downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WST traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $395.71. 234,704 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 551,421. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.97 billion, a PE ratio of 50.25, a P/E/G ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.03. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $310.42 and a one year high of $415.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $374.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $363.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.