TCG Advisory Services LLC Buys Shares of 2,225 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

TCG Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,225 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $783,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $215,011,000. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,900.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB now owns 180,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,538,000 after acquiring an additional 171,000 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 702.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $44,487,000 after acquiring an additional 110,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.4% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 279,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,726,000 after acquiring an additional 84,513 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $292,438.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of WST stock traded down $3.44 on Friday, reaching $365.02. 451,107 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,014. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $377.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $363.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 48.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.05. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $310.42 and a one year high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The business had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.55%.

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.