West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (WST): Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About It, Insider Sentiment Unchanged

Should West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST) investors track the following data?

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Equally as crucial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the investments you’re interested in. There are many motivations for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s study the latest info for West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST).

How have hedgies been trading West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -15% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST)When using filings from the hedgies we track, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the most valuable position in West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST), worth close to $46.3 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Fisher Asset Management’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $16.3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Since West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST) has faced bearish sentiment from upper-tier hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers that slashed their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Peter Rathjens Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital sold off the largest stake of the 450+ funds we monitor, comprising an estimated $5.8 million in stock, and Matthew Tewksbury of Stevens Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $0.9 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds last quarter.

How are insiders trading West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST). These stocks are Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX), HeartWare International Inc (NASDAQ:HTWR), Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRC), Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE:HAE), and Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR). All of these stocks are in the medical instruments & supplies industry and their market caps match WST’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) 15 0 0
HeartWare International Inc (NASDAQ:HTWR) 15 0 0
Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRC) 14 0 0
Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE:HAE) 14 0 0
Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR) 24 0 0

Using the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s research, average investors must always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST) is an important part of this process.

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