Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 214 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 214 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $360.43 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $377.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.13. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $310.42 and a one year high of $415.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.55, a PEG ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.29% and a net margin of 19.42%. The business had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. 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 report 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

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.