ING Groep NV Sells 5,557 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

ING Groep NV cut its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 14.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,434 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 5,557 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $8,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,020 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 55.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 289 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 65,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $14,410,000 after purchasing an additional 2,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $345.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Evercore lowered their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.22.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.4%

WST stock opened at $246.97 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $324.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $17.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $262.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.21. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 16.29%.The company had revenue of $805.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.70 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio 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.