Man Group plc decreased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,070 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 30,454 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.06% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $6,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 41.3% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 794 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL now owns 15,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 344.4% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Gravity Wealth Inc. now owns 991 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.8% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. 90.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WST shares. ValuEngine cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.39.
Shares of NYSE WST opened at $147.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.00. West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.75 and a 52 week high of $152.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.48, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.89 and its 200 day moving average is $136.05.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $456.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $450.03 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 16.66%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc manufactures and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the United States, Germany, France, Other European countries, South Korea, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.
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