B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $444,000 Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,483 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 332.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 75,836 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,980,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,670 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, &PARTNERS acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $654,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

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 shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $327.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.52, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $316.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $311.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $265.00 and a 52-week high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WST. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $437.75.

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.