Nemes Rush Group LLC Makes New $1.23 Million Investment in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,312 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,387,990,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,348,698 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,202,183,000 after buying an additional 54,920 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $733,733,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $728,168,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 85.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 644,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $161,428,000 after acquiring an additional 296,639 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $412.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.67.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $413.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.10. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.83 and a 1 year high of $438.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $374.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.40. The stock has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.39, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.46. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $874.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $827.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 9.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Annette Favorite sold 2,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $921,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 21,818 shares in the company, valued at $7,963,570. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 15,659 shares of company stock worth $5,443,749 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services designs and manufactures packaging components and delivery systems used by the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. Its products help contain and administer injectable medicines and include elastomeric components, such as stoppers and seals, as well as syringe components and other packaging and delivery solutions.

The company also provides contract manufacturing services for medical devices and pharmaceutical delivery systems. Its customers include companies developing and producing branded, generic, and biologic medicines.

Founded in 1923 by Herman O.