Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 7,744 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 238.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,985 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 7,744 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 150.9% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.50.

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West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:WST traded down $3.98 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $222.08. 496,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 664,265. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company's 50 day moving average is $263.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.82. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $396.75.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.