New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $48.28 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,112 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.19% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $48,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $506,000. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,647,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,437 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 182,057 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $64,106,000 after buying an additional 39,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 in the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group decreased 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 report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $385.73 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $310.42 and a 52-week high of $415.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.24 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $377.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $364.26.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 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.