Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Invests $14.76 Million in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 45,069 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $14,763,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 65.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 17,949 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter worth about $1,723,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 69,046 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $22,743,000 after buying an additional 5,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,845 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,430,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WST opened at $344.91 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $265.00 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.17, a PEG ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $328.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $313.45.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.