RMB Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

RMB Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 66,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,419 shares during the period. RMB Capital Management LLC owned 0.09% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $23,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Copperwynd Financial LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 778 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Peninsula Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,580 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,373,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Balentine LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total transaction of $24,198,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,063,718.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of WST traded up $5.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $325.48. The stock had a trading volume of 294,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,533. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $310.42 and a fifty-two week high of $415.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $359.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $362.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $23.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The business had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 10.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WST. UBS Group cut their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a 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, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.