West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Stock Holdings Decreased by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. trimmed its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 3,375 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.06% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $16,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. 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 company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WST stock traded up $1.81 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $368.35. 340,043 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 513,327. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $377.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $362.99. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $310.42 and a 52-week high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is 10.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.