West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Holdings Trimmed by Trust Point Inc.

Trust Point Inc. lowered its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 395 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WST. Norges Bank bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $290,604,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $357,238,000 after purchasing an additional 494,828 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,277.7% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 425,915 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $139,513,000 after purchasing an additional 417,995 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,552,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $835,945,000 after purchasing an additional 266,488 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $224.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $212.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.99. The company has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.43 and a 1 year high of $352.33.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.