HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WST. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $145,379,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $72,646,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,130,020,000 after purchasing an additional 203,198 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have weighed in on WST. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on West Pharmaceutical Services
West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance
WST stock traded up $3.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $231.93. 654,649 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 635,677. 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 $397.72. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $274.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.44. The company has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $739.59 million. On average, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.
About West Pharmaceutical Services
(
Free Report)
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.
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