Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 138 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,434 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13,230.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,571,000 after acquiring an additional 18,522 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 750,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $281,524,000 after purchasing an additional 60,927 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,830 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 25.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,958 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,563,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WST. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $368.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $378.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $363.02. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $310.42 and a 12-month high of $415.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.59, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio 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.