Bath Savings Trust Co Has $429,000 Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Bath Savings Trust Co reduced its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,310 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 778 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,342 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dudley & Shanley Inc. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 81,131 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,352,000 after buying an additional 11,085 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $437.75.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST traded up $1.90 on Tuesday, hitting $334.62. The company had a trading volume of 172,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,419. The stock has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.65, a P/E/G ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $324.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.15. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $265.00 and a 1-year high of $413.70. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.46%.

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.