West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 95.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,844 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $35,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.4% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 147 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WST. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. 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 report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $372.04 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.21, a P/E/G ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $310.42 and a fifty-two week high of $415.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $378.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.15%.

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.