1,187 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 24th, 2023

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,187 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truadvice LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at about $262,000. Davidson Capital Management Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.9% in the first quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,031 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.7% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 15,435 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916 shares during the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 20.5% in the first quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 830 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 32.8% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 899 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 92.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. Bank of America upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $390.00 to $405.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.05, for a total value of $343,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,438.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.05, for a total value of $343,050.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,829 shares in the company, valued at $627,438.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.10, for a total value of $15,976,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,863,819.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,244 shares of company stock valued at $24,454,553 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE WST opened at $377.32 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $361.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $331.67. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $206.19 and a one year high of $389.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.83 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.62 and a quick ratio of 2.79.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.31. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 19.15%. The business had revenue of $716.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 25th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.44%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Profile

(Free Report)

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.