MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Boosts Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 60.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $68,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,574 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,824,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 65.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $918,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.8% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 158,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $52,124,000 after purchasing an additional 7,263 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted 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 valued at $4,619,000 after buying an additional 5,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,964 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WST shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.20.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $343.89 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $327.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $313.37. The company has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 51.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.42 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. The business 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 quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.