Diversified Trust Co Raises Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WST. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% in the third quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $336.71 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $265.00 and a 12-month high of $413.70. 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 company has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a PE ratio of 49.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $325.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $312.49.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.46%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.