Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 4,421 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,447 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 4,421 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. GAM Holding AG bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at $665,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at $4,589,000. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 21,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $7,414,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,970 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,511,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,581 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of WST stock traded up $7.91 on Friday, reaching $394.03. 242,265 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 434,881. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $310.42 and a 12-month high of $415.73. 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 capitalization of $28.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50 day moving average price is $380.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $363.54.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is 10.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total value of $23,077,900.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WST. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $435.20.

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.