TAP Consulting LLC Sells 74 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

TAP Consulting LLC lowered its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,497 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. TAP Consulting LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WST. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 4.5 %

NYSE WST traded down $17.55 on Thursday, hitting $368.18. The stock had a trading volume of 742,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 515,105. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $377.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $364.29. The stock has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $310.42 and a 52-week high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.