ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 57,725 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 57,725 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $18,908,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.08% of West Pharmaceutical Services as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $251,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,258,000. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,895 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,651 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,940 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $581,209,000 after purchasing an additional 38,757 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on WST. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. 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. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 6.8 %

Shares of NYSE WST traded up $13.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $203.43. 1,291,084 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 683,168. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $236.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.23. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $394.42.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.56%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.