Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 822 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 6th, 2023

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Free Report) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,121 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 822 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,864 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.4% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 849 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 103,190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $42,381,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,716,312 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,579,876,000 after purchasing an additional 82,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 152.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. 91.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $390.00 to $405.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.00.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on WST

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.64, for a total value of $829,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,877 shares in the company, valued at $6,168,599.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 2,000 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.64, for a total value of $829,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,877 shares in the company, valued at $6,168,599.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bernard Birkett sold 22,334 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.39, for a total transaction of $8,272,290.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,617,122.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,752 shares of company stock valued at $22,713,817. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST opened at $403.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $29.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.84, a PEG ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $385.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $359.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 2.78. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.19 and a 1 year high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.16. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 18.10% and a return on equity of 22.36%. The firm had revenue of $753.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $755.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

(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.