Xponance Inc. Reduces Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,570 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 829 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $5,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 34,326 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 6,143 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 25.3% in 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. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lattice Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Lattice Capital Management LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $372.06 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $378.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.11. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a PE ratio of 47.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.04.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.15%.

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.