Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Acquires 615 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,291 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.14% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $30,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 322.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,633.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 172 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 332.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WST stock opened at $330.05 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 48.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.01. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $311.65. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $265.00 and a 1 year high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised 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 research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $437.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.