Ardevora Asset Management LLP Sells 11,511 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Ardevora Asset Management LLP lessened its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 41.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,945 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 11,511 shares during the period. Ardevora Asset Management LLP’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $5,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 384 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 shares were 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 $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,708.98. 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 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.4 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded down $5.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $372.04. 444,740 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 314,853. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.88. The company has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a PE ratio of 47.21, a P/E/G ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $378.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $364.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.15%.

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.