West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,283,887 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 182,863 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 3.15% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $674,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $964,850,000 after acquiring an additional 10,060 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $520,569,000 after purchasing an additional 12,850 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $178,828,000 after buying an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.8% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 593,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $195,556,000 after buying an additional 37,702 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WST traded down $1.57 on Friday, hitting $330.05. 516,109 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 437,418. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $265.00 and a one year high of $413.70. The company has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 48.97, a P/E/G ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $312.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WST. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $437.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.