West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP trimmed its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,362 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $6,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,151,000 after acquiring an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,153,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE WST traded down $16.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $203.00. The company had a trading volume of 988,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 673,536. The stock has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week high of $396.75. The business's 50-day moving average is $251.41 and its 200-day moving average is $294.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.