Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $1.64 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,446 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 424 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WST. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $964,850,000 after purchasing an additional 10,060 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $520,569,000 after buying an additional 12,850 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $205,114,000 after acquiring an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 593,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $195,556,000 after acquiring an additional 37,702 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WST shares. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $437.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.1 %

WST stock opened at $334.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.59, a P/E/G ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $314.49 and a 200-day moving average of $311.68.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The company had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

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.