Forte Capital LLC ADV Decreases Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Forte Capital LLC ADV cut its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 48.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 914 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,151,000 after purchasing an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,124,000 after acquiring an additional 23,850 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST stock opened at $210.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $400.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $316.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $310.57.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WST. KeyCorp dropped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lifted 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. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given 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 a consensus target price of $344.00.

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.