West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Stock Holdings Increased by W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 226.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,748 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,213 shares during the quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WST. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13,230.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,571,000 after purchasing an additional 18,522 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $281,524,000 after buying an additional 60,927 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.8% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,830 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 11,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,958 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,563,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WST. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 over the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded down $3.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $365.02. 451,107 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 447,014. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $310.42 and a 1-year high of $415.73. The firm has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $377.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $363.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.55%.

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.