West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Free Report) had its price objective cut by KeyCorp from $470.00 to $325.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the medical instruments supplier's stock.
A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WST. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America lifted 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. Citigroup initiated coverage on 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. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $344.00.
Read Our Latest Analysis on WST
West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance
NYSE:WST traded down $3.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $210.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,074,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 809,266. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $312.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $739.59 million. On average, analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.46%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WST. Creative Planning lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,371 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $15,119,000 after buying an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.3% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,694 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,358 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.
West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile
(
Get 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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