West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Bought by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 656.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,300 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 61,004 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.10% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $23,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,151,000 after purchasing an additional 16,418 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,153,000 after acquiring an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $2,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective 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 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST traded down $0.90 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $211.77. 134,237 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 957,666. 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 50 day moving average of $229.35 and a 200-day moving average of $289.05. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.43 and a 12 month high of $394.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.