West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,780 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.9% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 over the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued 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 price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $389.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.49, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $310.42 and a twelve month high of $415.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $377.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $364.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.15%.

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.