ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 125,748 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 17.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 612,620 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 125,748 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $160,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,304,000 after purchasing an additional 10,009 shares in the last quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.2% in the third quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 34,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,930,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,636,000 after buying an additional 12,348 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 502,831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $111,236,000 after buying an additional 228,696 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,610,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WST. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Evercore lowered their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $285.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $330.13.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 7.6%

NYSE:WST opened at $249.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.18. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $187.43 and a one year high of $332.47. The company has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of 36.91, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $264.16 and a 200-day moving average of $262.19.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.04%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc is a global developer and manufacturer of components, systems and services that enable the containment and delivery of injectable drugs. The company focuses on high-quality packaging and delivery solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, producing primary drug packaging components and specialized drug delivery devices used for vaccines, biologics and other injectable therapies. West is known for its elastomeric closures, seals and polymer components that maintain sterility and compatibility with sensitive drug formulations.

In addition to component manufacturing, West provides engineered delivery systems and support services across the product lifecycle.