Fulcrum Capital LLC Acquires 305 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Fulcrum Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,429 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Fulcrum Capital LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WST traded up $7.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $338.92. 245,917 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 412,358. 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 has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.28, a P/E/G ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $325.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.34. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is presently 12.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup started 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.