Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $207,000 Investment in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 631 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on WST shares. Bank of America raised their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.3 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $336.15 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $265.00 and a 12-month high of $413.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.34 billion, a PE ratio of 49.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The company had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

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