Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Lowers Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. cut its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 41.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,993 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,138 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.1 %

WST stock opened at $343.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.37. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $265.00 and a 12 month high of $413.70. The company has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WST. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised 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, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.20.

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.