Callan Family Office LLC Makes New Investment in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,130,020,000 after buying an additional 203,198 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $964,850,000 after buying an additional 10,060 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $520,569,000 after buying an additional 12,850 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $225,851,000 after buying an additional 676,167 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position 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 worth $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 2.8 %

WST traded down $6.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $224.23. The company had a trading volume of 949,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,552. The company has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $289.34 and a 200-day moving average of $304.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for 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%. As a group, analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.