International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases 18,522 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 13,230.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 18,522 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $6,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,716,312 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,579,876,000 after buying an additional 82,459 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,719,972 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $404,796,000 after buying an additional 12,228 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.2% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,591,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $597,061,000 after buying an additional 578,796 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,542,451 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $533,210,000 after buying an additional 35,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,305,062 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $489,672,000 after buying an additional 35,788 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following 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 is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WST. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group decreased 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. KeyCorp increased their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.3 %

WST traded down $1.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $378.81. 284,522 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 516,171. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.73 billion, a PE ratio of 48.07, a P/E/G ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average is $381.07 and its 200 day moving average is $363.88. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given 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 yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.15%.

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.