West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Intrust Bank NA

Intrust Bank NA lessened its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares in the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,379,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $222.08 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $263.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $396.75. The company has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WST. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

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.