Rockland Trust Co. Acquires 3,102 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,744 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $19,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $328.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.81 billion, a PE ratio of 48.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $265.00 and a 12-month high of $413.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $326.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $312.41.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.