Nordea Investment Management AB Has $2.09 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,342 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 203 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $16,133,000 after buying an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.4 %

WST opened at $332.34 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.31, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $325.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $312.42.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

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.