Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $849.19 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,592,483 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 11,063 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 3.58% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $849,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $74,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,656 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,180,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,838 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 115,810 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $37,935,000 after buying an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $706,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $219.72. The company had a trading volume of 591,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 667,250. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $396.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $256.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

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.