Corient Private Wealth LLC Decreases Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Corient Private Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,081 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,746 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned about 0.14% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $34,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 60,418 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $19,791,000 after buying an additional 6,671 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 4,258 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Postrock Partners LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $253,000. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 62,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $20,466,000 after purchasing an additional 4,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 978 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.6 %

WST opened at $231.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $400.88. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $283.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.66.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 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 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

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.