Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 77,654 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $25,436,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.11% of West Pharmaceutical Services at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.
West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.3 %
WST stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $227.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 468,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 972,005. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $400.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $303.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79.
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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The company 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.56%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have issued reports on WST. Bank of America upped their price objective on 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 began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of 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 five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $344.00.
Read Our Latest Research Report on West Pharmaceutical Services
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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