Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,710 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 7,547 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.26% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $66,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,864 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.4% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 849 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 103,190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $42,381,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,716,312 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,579,876,000 after purchasing an additional 82,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 152.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.0 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $377.35 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $310.42 and a twelve month high of $415.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $379.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.10. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $27.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.89, a P/E/G ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.04.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.15%.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WST shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.