West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Forte Capital LLC ADV

Forte Capital LLC ADV lessened its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WST. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST traded down $3.44 on Friday, hitting $365.02. 451,107 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,014. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $310.42 and a fifty-two week high of $415.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $377.90 and its 200 day moving average is $363.10.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The business had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a 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 Activity

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 over the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.