Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 203 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,342 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,153,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,133,000 after buying an additional 4,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of several research reports. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST opened at $332.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.31, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $325.89 and a 200 day moving average of $312.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS 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 given 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 (DPR) is 12.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.