Atria Investments Inc Sells 406 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Atria Investments Inc decreased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 406 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE WST opened at $231.55 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $295.38 and a 200-day moving average of $305.85. The firm has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

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.