Bath Savings Trust Co Sells 155 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Bath Savings Trust Co cut its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,310 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,124,000 after purchasing an additional 23,850 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after purchasing an additional 3,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WST shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $437.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.6 %

WST traded up $1.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $334.62. 172,160 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,419. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.65, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $324.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.15. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $265.00 and a one year high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

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.