CWA Asset Management Group LLC Has $255,000 Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 778 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 67 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,124,000 after acquiring an additional 23,850 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $336.71 on Friday. 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $325.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $312.49. The company has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.96, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The business’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.46%.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.