West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Coverage Initiated at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Free Report) in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $275.00 price objective on the medical instruments supplier's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WST. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup initiated 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.50.

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West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded up $1.52 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $229.03. 2,640,938 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 634,668. The company has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.50. 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 has a 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $397.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is 12.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.