Dakota Wealth Management Sells 109 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Dakota Wealth Management lessened its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 65.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 14,022 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,619,000 after purchasing an additional 5,188 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 17,949 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $464,000. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at $1,723,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $344.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $328.32 and a 200-day moving average of $313.54. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $265.00 and a 12 month high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WST shares. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of 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 initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target 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 five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.20.

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.