Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases New Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,546 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,953,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WST. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WST. KeyCorp raised 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 report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total value of $23,077,900.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST traded down $7.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $360.43. 603,058 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 516,190. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $377.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $364.29.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The company had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.15%.

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.