Corebridge Financial Inc. Has $5.78 Million Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,657 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 1,344 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.'s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $5,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 239 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,980 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,269,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WST. Evercore ISI started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $219.84. 857,588 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 669,422. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $254.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.65. The company has a market cap of $15.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $396.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $739.59 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

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.