Consolidated Planning Corp Has $1.03 Million Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 188.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,140 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WST. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,379,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 122,361 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 444,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $133,271,000 after acquiring an additional 101,710 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 7.9 %

Shares of WST stock traded up $15.73 on Friday, hitting $214.84. The stock had a trading volume of 5,020,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,824. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88. The firm has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $327.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $313.92.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. As a group, analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

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.