Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 12,850 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 12,850 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.40% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $520,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WST. State Street Corp lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $964,850,000 after acquiring an additional 10,060 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during the third 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 valued at $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 593,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $195,556,000 after purchasing an additional 37,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 448,184 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $134,527,000 after buying an additional 6,756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $330.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 516,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,879. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $265.00 and a 12 month high of $413.70. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $312.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $311.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is 12.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WST shares. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $437.75.

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.