J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Decreases Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lowered its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 71.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,206 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 7,952 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 41,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $13,547,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,241 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 632,307 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $207,119,000 after purchasing an additional 21,806 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,242 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $6,630,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp cut their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $214.85 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.43 and a fifty-two week high of $394.42. The firm's 50 day moving average is $217.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.32. The company has a market cap of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $739.59 million. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors 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 yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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